Commack Celebrates a Century of Firefighting
The planned route for the Commack Fire Department’s centennial parade on Saturday night quietly twines the history of the organization’s founding with an unprecedented community celebration that includes fireworks and a barbeque.
Nearly all 136 current members of the department are scheduled to begin the parade at the intersection of Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road — the crossroads where part-time resident Ferdinand Freschkorn met with neighbors in August 1906 to discuss the formation of the department.
“Obviously for us, for the firemen, 100 years is quite significant,” Chief Mike Hertz, a 21-year veteran of the department, said. “There’s a tremendous amount of tradition in any fire department and we all take pride in it.”
The parade will continue south along Commack Road, where the members of more than 40 other fire departments from across Long Island, including East Northport, Dix Hills, Melville and Huntington, will join the procession. The parade concludes near the YMHA on Hauppauge Road, where a barbeque will be held. The fireworks, prepared by the Long Island-based Grucci family, are expected to begin at about 9:15 p.m.
“The whole idea of the anniversary is: it’s our anniversary, it’s our celebration, it’s something that’s near and dear to our department,” Hertz said. “The barbeque, the fireworks and the parade are our way of giving back to the community for all the support they’ve given us.”
Freschkorn’s Fire Legacy
Commack’s fire tradition began with Freschkorn, his prescience and his determination. Freschkorn was a native of Canarsie, Brooklyn, who visited Commack for weekends and summers, according to a narrative prepared by the department’s historian Larry Schneckenburger, a former chief who has served the organization for more than 30 years.
Commack’s population was about 300 at the time, and nearly half its land area was covered with pine trees. Forest rangers watched for wildfires, but Freschkorn, who had been serving as a volunteer firefighter in Brooklyn, advocated the formation of a fire company, the Commack Hook and Ladder Company, to protect the rest of the community.
Soon after the founding meeting, which took place at a long-since demolished hotel, Freschkorn returned to Brooklyn and negotiated the acquisition of Commack’s first fire apparatus, a horse-drawn vehicle that had been retired by the New York City Fire Department. Freschkorn stored the vehicle in a private barn in Commack until the construction of a firehouse, on the site of the department’s current Jericho Turnpike headquarters, in 1908.
In 1921, Commack acquired its first truck, a Model T Ford that is in still used as a showpiece in parades like the one that will stretch through town on Saturday night. In 1938, the boundaries of the Commack fire district were formed and in 1939 the fire company changed its name to Commack Fire Department. In 1952, a second wing was added to the firehouse and in 1964, with the onset of suburban growth, the current headquarters was built to replace the original 1908 structure.
In 1974, the first of three substations was opened at the intersection of Harned Road and New Highway, in the southern end of the fire district. A second substation was built on Elwood Road, in the western end of the fire district, in 1983 and a third on Kings Park Road, in the northeast section of the district, in 1996.
“We’ve expanded from one firehouse with two garages in it and a Model T to a headquarters and three substations,” Hertz said, marveling at the growth of the community and the department.
‘Good Fires, Bad Fires’
The department’s role and the types of emergencies to which it has responded, have changed as the community has grown from sylvan retreat to sprawling suburb. Single-family homes, strip malls and industrial parks now stand on the land the pines occupied when Freschkorn first visited Commack.
In nearly a century of operation, the department has received approximately 80,000 calls. There were planes that crashed on takeoff from the Army Signal Corps facility at Brindley Field (now a Home Depot on Jericho Turnpike), brush fires that burned along Old Northport Road and Crooked Hill Road in nearly every decade, fatal auto accidents, office building fires that trapped firefighters and industrial blazes that lingered for days.
“We’ve been to good fires, bad fires, brush fires, you name it,” Schneckenburger said. “We’ve rescued cats out of trees, we train for everything.”
• In June 1970, a fire raged for three days at the Thermx Chemical plant in the newly-built Hauppauge Industrial Park. According to Schneckenburger, the hydrants in the area were unable to pump enough water to the fire scene, so firefighters were forced to improvise and line their hose lines to hydrants up to a half-mile away.
• In 1971, firefighters were able to rescue five children from an Old Hauppauge Road home that had been fully engulfed in flames.
• In 1978, an ice storm produced 68 separate runs and sparked 3 house fires.
• In 1979, a fire tore through a row of stores in the Mayfair Shopping Center on Jericho Turnpike. The roof collapsed and several firefighters were nearly killed.
• Five minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve in 1980, the call came in that a gas explosion ripped through the Suzuki Motorcycles dealership at Daly Road and Jericho Turnpike in Elwood. Firefighters spent much of Christmas day dousing the flames.
• In 1985, 120 the department received calls in a 36-hour span during Hurricane Gloria.
• In 1995, 85 members took shifts battling the wildfires that consumed much of the Pine Barrens on the East End.
• In 2001, volunteers from Commack aided their professional brethren from New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Commack’s technical rescue team, which is comprised of members specially trained in recovery efforts, contributed to the search through the ruins of the World Trade Center.
“We run a professional department (in Commack),” Schneckenburger said. In addition to volunteering in Commack, Schneckenburger is also a 21-year veteran of the New York City fire department. “When you take the oath to join the department, I feel like you’re joining an all-star team. You have people from all walks of life, but when you put on that uniform, you’re part of the same family.”
Schneckenburger is chronicling the history of the department in a 280-page book that will be distributed to members and local historical societies in January 2007. The final chapter will center on Saturday night’s celebration.
Nearly all 136 current members of the department are scheduled to begin the parade at the intersection of Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road — the crossroads where part-time resident Ferdinand Freschkorn met with neighbors in August 1906 to discuss the formation of the department.
“Obviously for us, for the firemen, 100 years is quite significant,” Chief Mike Hertz, a 21-year veteran of the department, said. “There’s a tremendous amount of tradition in any fire department and we all take pride in it.”
The parade will continue south along Commack Road, where the members of more than 40 other fire departments from across Long Island, including East Northport, Dix Hills, Melville and Huntington, will join the procession. The parade concludes near the YMHA on Hauppauge Road, where a barbeque will be held. The fireworks, prepared by the Long Island-based Grucci family, are expected to begin at about 9:15 p.m.
“The whole idea of the anniversary is: it’s our anniversary, it’s our celebration, it’s something that’s near and dear to our department,” Hertz said. “The barbeque, the fireworks and the parade are our way of giving back to the community for all the support they’ve given us.”
Freschkorn’s Fire Legacy
Commack’s fire tradition began with Freschkorn, his prescience and his determination. Freschkorn was a native of Canarsie, Brooklyn, who visited Commack for weekends and summers, according to a narrative prepared by the department’s historian Larry Schneckenburger, a former chief who has served the organization for more than 30 years.
Commack’s population was about 300 at the time, and nearly half its land area was covered with pine trees. Forest rangers watched for wildfires, but Freschkorn, who had been serving as a volunteer firefighter in Brooklyn, advocated the formation of a fire company, the Commack Hook and Ladder Company, to protect the rest of the community.
Soon after the founding meeting, which took place at a long-since demolished hotel, Freschkorn returned to Brooklyn and negotiated the acquisition of Commack’s first fire apparatus, a horse-drawn vehicle that had been retired by the New York City Fire Department. Freschkorn stored the vehicle in a private barn in Commack until the construction of a firehouse, on the site of the department’s current Jericho Turnpike headquarters, in 1908.
In 1921, Commack acquired its first truck, a Model T Ford that is in still used as a showpiece in parades like the one that will stretch through town on Saturday night. In 1938, the boundaries of the Commack fire district were formed and in 1939 the fire company changed its name to Commack Fire Department. In 1952, a second wing was added to the firehouse and in 1964, with the onset of suburban growth, the current headquarters was built to replace the original 1908 structure.
In 1974, the first of three substations was opened at the intersection of Harned Road and New Highway, in the southern end of the fire district. A second substation was built on Elwood Road, in the western end of the fire district, in 1983 and a third on Kings Park Road, in the northeast section of the district, in 1996.
“We’ve expanded from one firehouse with two garages in it and a Model T to a headquarters and three substations,” Hertz said, marveling at the growth of the community and the department.
‘Good Fires, Bad Fires’
The department’s role and the types of emergencies to which it has responded, have changed as the community has grown from sylvan retreat to sprawling suburb. Single-family homes, strip malls and industrial parks now stand on the land the pines occupied when Freschkorn first visited Commack.
In nearly a century of operation, the department has received approximately 80,000 calls. There were planes that crashed on takeoff from the Army Signal Corps facility at Brindley Field (now a Home Depot on Jericho Turnpike), brush fires that burned along Old Northport Road and Crooked Hill Road in nearly every decade, fatal auto accidents, office building fires that trapped firefighters and industrial blazes that lingered for days.
“We’ve been to good fires, bad fires, brush fires, you name it,” Schneckenburger said. “We’ve rescued cats out of trees, we train for everything.”
• In June 1970, a fire raged for three days at the Thermx Chemical plant in the newly-built Hauppauge Industrial Park. According to Schneckenburger, the hydrants in the area were unable to pump enough water to the fire scene, so firefighters were forced to improvise and line their hose lines to hydrants up to a half-mile away.
• In 1971, firefighters were able to rescue five children from an Old Hauppauge Road home that had been fully engulfed in flames.
• In 1978, an ice storm produced 68 separate runs and sparked 3 house fires.
• In 1979, a fire tore through a row of stores in the Mayfair Shopping Center on Jericho Turnpike. The roof collapsed and several firefighters were nearly killed.
• Five minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve in 1980, the call came in that a gas explosion ripped through the Suzuki Motorcycles dealership at Daly Road and Jericho Turnpike in Elwood. Firefighters spent much of Christmas day dousing the flames.
• In 1985, 120 the department received calls in a 36-hour span during Hurricane Gloria.
• In 1995, 85 members took shifts battling the wildfires that consumed much of the Pine Barrens on the East End.
• In 2001, volunteers from Commack aided their professional brethren from New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Commack’s technical rescue team, which is comprised of members specially trained in recovery efforts, contributed to the search through the ruins of the World Trade Center.
“We run a professional department (in Commack),” Schneckenburger said. In addition to volunteering in Commack, Schneckenburger is also a 21-year veteran of the New York City fire department. “When you take the oath to join the department, I feel like you’re joining an all-star team. You have people from all walks of life, but when you put on that uniform, you’re part of the same family.”
Schneckenburger is chronicling the history of the department in a 280-page book that will be distributed to members and local historical societies in January 2007. The final chapter will center on Saturday night’s celebration.
Labels: Commack, Fire Department, Long-Islander (2003-2007)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home