COPIAGUE, NY — Just after 5:00 am on Sunday, April 1, 2007 the Amityville Fire Department was toned out for a commercial building fire at 10 Marconi Blvd in Copiague. This building was operated by Eff-N Bee Inc, a wholesale clothing company which provided industrial laundry service as well as recycling for used clothing, shoes, pocketbooks, toys, etc…
 PHOTO BY ADAM DALEY |
Upon arrival by police and other firefighters in the area, dispatch was notified of a 13/35 (working fire) in a commercial building with heavy fire through the roof. As soon as Amityville chiefs arrived on scene, they re-toned for manpower and additional units.
East Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, North Amityville, West Babylon and Massapequa were all called to the scene for additional support. East Farmingdale, West Babylon and Massapequa both provided additional tower ladders to the Amityville tower ladder already attacking the fire.
Lindenhurst firefighters setup a master stream in a lot adjacent to Eff-N Bee’s and quickly made work attacking fire which was extended into another part of the building. Massapequa attacked the fire with their ladder from the west side of the building while Amityville and West Babylon setup their ladders in the entrance to Eff-N Bee’s, which was the eastbound side. Upon arrival by East Farmingdale’s tower ladder, they setup in the lot adjacent to Eff-N Bee’s building where Lindenhurst had their master stream setup.
LIPA was notified to cut power as aerial ladders were having difficulty maneuvering around them. Tree limbs were also cut as aerial ladders rose into the air.
Arriving firefighters were met with heavy flames as explosions took place inside the building. It was later learned that there were various types of tanks including propane and acetylene tanks, paint and paint thinner.
It took about 2 hours before the bulk of the fire was knocked down and hand lines were stretched from nearby engines. ECC was also notified due to huge pools of chemicals around the fire scene.
Three hours into the fire companies began overhauling as hot spots were found and additional fires were put out. SCPD Arson squad was on scene conducting their investigation as well and determining what parts of the structure companies could overhaul.
Six hours into the fire mutual aid was requested from Copiague, North Babylon and Wyandanch to help with the overhaul process.
With such little room to setup aerial ladders and limited space to setup engines, all the departments worked together to bring this fire under control. Unfortunately the building appeared to be a total loss as there were extensive amounts of collapse throughout the entire structure. Firefighting personnel were forced to knock portions of the building down in order to start the overhaul process.