Four local fire departments braved high winds to battle a blaze at a home construction site in Saddle Rock on Tuesday, Dec. 18.
Sixty-two firefighters from the Great Neck Alert, Great Neck Vigilant, Port Washington and Manhasset-Lakeville fire departments worked through the night to fight the fire, which was contained to a single Bayport Road property but caused extensive damage, according to Great Neck Alert Fire Chief Raymond Plakstis.
“I would say probably a rough estimate, at least $1 million worth of damage,” Plakstis said.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was taken to a hospital, where he was later released.
The hours-long operation began when Great Neck Alert received a call at 10:07 p.m. reporting smoke in the area of Emerson Drive and Grist Mill Lane, said Plakstis.
“I radioed back that there was heavy smoke in the area – we couldn’t find the fire but it was definitely something,” said Plakstis, who told the Great Neck News he was the first on the scene.
Great Neck Alert began a street-by-street sweep of the area searching for the source of the fire. They found it at a residential construction site on Bayport Lane, where a home that Plakstis said was about 90 percent completed had gone up in flames.
The company started an interior attack on the fire, contending with wind gusts up to 47 miles per hour, said Plakstis, before withdrawing and fighting the blaze from outside the house.
Great Neck Alert received assistance from the Port Washington, Great Neck Vigilant and Manhasset-Lakeville fire departments in dealing with what Plakstis said were perilous conditions.
“Take a candle in no wind… and the flame goes straight up. In high winds it actually blowtorches,” Plakstis said. “It’s just very dangerous.”
The firefighters reentered the building hours later, eventually finishing the job around 3:30 a.m.
Plakstis said the operation was made more difficult by the construction materials used on the site, which included smash-resistant storm windows and heavy roof shingles that increased the danger of a potential collapse.
“We had to work very gently the entire time we were there,” he said.”
