Fire marshal: Engine fire destroys Brookhaven truck, shed
A Brookhaven Town highway shed and a $250,000 truck were destroyed after a fire that broke out at a town yard in Mount Sinai on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, officials said. Credit: Christopher Sabella
A fire that started in the engine of a dump truck destroyed the vehicle and a Brookhaven Town highway shed in Mount Sinai Friday morning, officials said.
Town chief fire marshal Chris Mehrman said the fire was an accident. No one was inside the truck, which belongs to the town Highway Department, when the fire broke out at 8:40 a.m. at the town's Canal Road facility, he said.
Security video footage and interviews with workers showed the fire started in the 2003 Sterling diesel-powered dump truck while it was parked outside the highway shed, Mehrman said. The engine was not running when the fire started, he said.
"We're currently looking at some kind of failure with the truck parked outside," he said.
The blaze "started in the engine area, in the electrical system," he said.
Flames spread to the shed, which also was destroyed, town Highway Superintendent Daniel Losquadro said in a telephone interview.
The building's roof collapsed, leaving only concrete-block walls, he said.
"That's all that's left," Losquadro said. "The entire roof and windows are gone."
Losquadro said the blaze raged for at least an hour before being brought under control by eight fire departments. No one was injured, he said.
He said the cost of replacing the truck, which was equipped with a snow plow and sander, would be about $250,000.
The shed housed highway equipment such as generators, supplies and pumps, Losquadro said.
The yard is used by several town agencies, including the highway, public safety and parks departments.
