Just after 3:00 am the Hagerman Fire Department was activated for a mutual aid to the Brookhaven Fire Department for a Tower Ladder and Engine to the scene of a large compost fire. The fire was located at Long Island Compost Corporation and was located in a large pile of compost which included large tree stumps and logs which was around 50 to 75 feet high, 200 feet wide and 400 feet long. Initial reports had flames around 40 feet tall and a thick ash filled smoke column could be seen during the early morning hours. Water supply was a priority and due to the lack of hydrants in the area, multiple tankers were requested from surrounding departments and provided water shuttle operations. It was estimated that 6,000 feet of 5" supply hose was laid out to bring water into the scene for the three tower ladders. With Hagerman, Bellport and Brookhaven's Tower ladders in operation along with the Long Island MacArthur Airport Crash Rescue Truck the fire was extinguished while the employees used heavy equipment to tear apart the pile and expose any hotspots.
Brookhaven Town also helped by supplying a 12,000 gallon water tanker and crews brought in pickup trucks full of 5 gallon buckets of foam to add into the water to smother the pile. GelTech Solutions also responded and supplied a product called FireIce to help fight the fire which was used through Bellports tower ladder. In total over 150 firefighters responded from 20 departments to help battle the blaze. Mutiple EMS agency's were on scene providing firefighter rehab, and the Suffolk County Fire Rescue Mobile Command Center also responded to overview and direct scene operations. Units were on scene for over 12 hours and thankfully there were no reported injuries.
Video from this fire is located in the videos section.
photos by Stringer News