Year in Review: Area fire departments answered the call
Local fire departments were busy all year on calls within their districts and also responding as mutual aid to several major fires that occurred in 2025.
The most recent call was to a massive blaze at the historic Wells Farm in Northville on Wednesday, Nov. 12, that sent three people to the hospital with smoke inhalation, including two granddaughters of the farm’s owner. The fire also killed several animals.
More than 50 firefighters from Riverhead, Jamesport, Flanders, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Wading River, Hampton Bays and Eastport responded to the inferno, which closed traffic along Sound Avenue between Church Lane and West Lane for several hours. It took all of them two hours to gain control of the blaze.
Just weeks before school started this year, a fire at Shoreham-Wading River High School damaged the main gym ceiling on a Saturday morning. The damage did not delay the opening of school, but physical education classes and athletics had to be moved.
Responders opened up the roof to expose the fire, and the gym floor was damaged by some water as well. The fire was called in just after 8 a.m. and was deemed under control just before 10:30 a.m. Over 100 volunteers responded to the call, and no injuries were reported.
At the beginning of August, firefighters arrived to an early morning blaze at 1535 Middle Road in Calverton. It had engulfed the two-story residence, and the first arriving fire chiefs immediately requested mutual aid from neighboring departments, including Jamesport, Manorville and Wading River, according to a news release.
Three residents of the home were transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and the flames were under control by a little after 5 a.m.
A multiple-building fire broke out around 2 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, at the Crown Recycling Facility at 472 Youngs Ave. in Calverton. As of 1 p.m. the blaze had been almost fully contained and cleanup of the site had begun. All four structures on the property were destroyed, fire department officials confirmed.
Due to the asbestos and other chemicals processed at the facility, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation preformed an on-site contamination investigation.
Nearly 250 responders showed up to the scene, from 35 different agencies, including 26 fire departments, EMS personnel and volunteer ambulances from Jamesport, Flanders, Southold, Wading River and Manorville, and engine and ladder trucks from North Fork fire departments including Mattituck, Cutchogue and Greenport.
More than 80 Long Island fire departments, including from Riverhead, Greenport, Orient, Shelter Island and Cutchogue, responded to massive brush fires, which blazed through the pine barrens between Center Moriches and Westhampton Beach in March.
Strong winds and damage from the southern pine beetle contributed to the speed and extent of the spread, officials said. According to a report from the Suffolk County Police, residents of a home in Manorville were attempting to build a fire in their backyard to make s’mores when it got out of control and sparked a string of wildfires driven by high winds and dry conditions.
