Nassau police's Second Precinct 'not salvageable' after fire, Blakeman says

A fast-moving fire at the Nassau County Police Department's Second Precinct in Woodbury began in the kitchen before spreading to two adjoining offices, leaving the two-story building "not salvageable," Nassau officials said Sunday.

County Executive Bruce Blakeman said police services for the area were continuing without interruption.

The fire at the precinct on Jericho Turnpike was reported at 10:12 p.m. Saturday and Syosset firefighters were on the scene four minutes later, according to Blakeman and other county officials at a news conference Sunday outside the station.

Firefighters from six area departments responded to the blaze, which was under control within a half-hour, officials said. 

The cause of the fire is not suspicious although the investigation is ongoing, said Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro, adding that firefighters "did a phenomenal job of holding the fire to the area of origin.”

Six Nassau police personnel inside the building at the time of the fire — a lieutenant, a sergeant, two detectives and two officers — were treated at Nassau University Medical Center for smoke inhalation and released, said Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.

Blakeman, speaking during the news conference, said the building was “not salvageable,” but essential records and equipment were saved from the flames.

He stressed that “there was no disruption in service last night.”

“We were operational immediately,” he said, adding that a new precinct will be built.

Meanwhile, the detective squad will be housed at the Eighth Precinct in nearby Bethpage. Police reports will be taken inside a temporary trailer to be set up outside the fire-damaged Second Precinct.

“We will be expediting the construction of a new precinct building,” Blakeman said. “We already had plans for it as this is an aging precinct and was coming towards the end of its useful life.”

Blakeman did not offer a cost estimate for the new police building. The First Precinct in Baldwin, which was completed in 2017, cost $13 million, according to a Newsday story at the time.

Those making emergency calls should still call 911, Blakeman said. However, anyone making nonemergency police calls within the Second Precinct, which includes parts of Bayville, Hicksville, Jericho, Oyster Bay, Plainview, Syosset and Woodbury can still call 516-573-6200 to reach the Second Precinct, police said.

Oyster Bay Town has agreed to allow the Nassau police to park their vehicles at the adjacent Syosset-Woodbury Community Park, Blakeman said.

“You will see the same amount of cars out there [outside the Second Precinct] that you see every day. The response will be exactly the same,” Ryder said. “Where it changes is when you come to this building. Right now, we're asking you to go to the Eighth Precinct.”

With James Carbone, Grant Parpan and Darwin Yanes

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.