Bellone lauds Long Island firefighters' efforts

A flash of orange caught the eye of Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone as he rode shotgun in a black police SUV Tuesday afternoon.

The worst of the 1,100-acre Manorville-Ridge Fire was over, but a flare-up off Schultz Road in Manorville -- not far from where homes had burned Monday -- gave reason to stop.

Bellone, who had been on his way to review conditions at a nearby county park, pushed through a thicket of branches to examine the new flames. Within minutes, an already alerted fire engine extinguished the spot.

"This is exactly what I'm worried about," he said. "The wind picks up, and something like this can grow. It shows we're not out of the woods yet."

The Manorville fire marked the first big emergency of Bellone's first term in office. Since the fire was reported Monday afternoon, Bellone has led news conferences at the county fire command post outside Manorville's Saints Peter and Paul Church. He met distraught homeowners and assessed damage, via helicopter, with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Tuesday afternoon at the church, he spoke privately with a group of volunteer firefighters who had worked through the night to contain the blaze.

"This has been one of the best-coordinated efforts I've ever seen," Bellone told them, standing in a meeting room where fire maps hung below a banner reading, "Christ Be Our Light."

He continued, "The effort you put forward here helped save people's homes and people's lives."

Earlier Tuesday, Bellone walked the Manorville property of George and Kathleen Moretti, stepping over blackened pieces of furniture that had been inside a destroyed garage.

"I'm just shell-shocked," said Kathleen Moretti in the shadow of her boarded-up home, as Bellone placed his hand on her shoulder. "I've never seen anything like this."

She led him to the side of the garage, where a steel door appeared warped from the heat of flames. Just to the left, a plastic wall thermometer was unharmed. Bellone, wearing rolled-up jeans and a black Suffolk police fleece he borrowed from Chief of Department James Burke, shook his head.

"It just shows how fickle a fire can be," Bellone said. "It's unpredictable."