West Babylon School Fire

WEST BABYLON, NY - Around 10 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2010 the West Babylon Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the South Bay Elementary School located at 160 Great East Neck Road. Upon arrival fire officials declared a working fire which sent multiple agencies to the scene for an all-knight attack.

Fire fighters from every department within the Town of Babylon district, including East Farmingdale, Amityville and West Islip responded to the scene in what became a massive fire.

At the time of this articles writing, firefighters are over 5 hours into the alarm of the fire with heavy fire still showing. Multiple deck guns went into operation as crews began an exterior attack attempting to drown the fire by whatever means necessary.

With near freezing conditions this became one fire that many will not forget. From experience at the scene firefighters were met with heavy fire conditions, followed by heavy smoke conditions which made it difficult to navigate around the fire. Companies from every department attempted to make entry on every side of the building but were only pushed back out by heavy fire loads and heavy smoke conditions. With the near freezing temperature and strong wind gusts the entire area South/East of the school became a blanket of smoke.

County command posts were setup while department crews worked in shifts to fight the battle. While one company rested and re-filled their Scott Packs, another company would take its place. Fire apparatus working the scene so long began to run out of fuel and needed to be swapped out with fresh apparatus to keep the fire fighting battle underway.

As this fire progresses we will update you with more news.

Additional Photos: http://www.fdphotos.net/gallery2/v/02-18-2010_wbfd/