Saltaire man, 79, recalls 1938 hurricane

Harry Baker can't forget returning to Fire Island two days after the 1938 hurricane.

He was a kid and saw what such a severe storm could do.

"I was with my uncle," he said. "He was a LILCO [Long Island Lighting Co.] supervisor and I was 8. We went by boat."

Baker later went to work on the island's ferries in 1945.

Sunday, it was deja vu. Baker, now 79 and senior official with the Saltaire Fire Department, was in the first convoy of officials to drive along the barrier island to assess damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.

It was a race against the tide as Baker rode shotgun in a truck driven by Vern Henriksen, Suffolk County's Fire Island fire coordinator. They bumped along the oceanfront because main roads along the oceanfront, rushing to beat the water's return at high tide.

A ferry captain during the evacuations for hurricanes in 1960 and 1962, Baker later was Saltaire Fire Chief when Gloria came though in 1985. He's now third assistant chief with Saltaire's fire department.

Without a doubt, he said, technology has made the job of managing emergencies and tracking storms much easier.

"Years ago, a hurricane was as unpredictable as a baby's rear end," he said. "These days, with advances in meteorology and satellites and radar, it's much easier to plan for. We didn't get radios 'til the 50s and radar didn't come 'til the 70s."

Still, Sunday's efforts proved difficult enough, even for old hands like Baker. The convoy went to weigh the damage and judge how soon fire departments could return.

"Fire risk is a top priority," Henriksen said, as LIPA begins reconnecting power to the island.

The trip had to be cut short due to the incoming tide and unpassable, flooded roads. Just as they returned, one truck in their convoy became struck in a sinkhole.

For a precious 25 minutes, it seemed the tide would win as members of the fire departments and town officials used shovels to dig the Ocean Beach fire truck's sunken chassis from the sodden beach. The wind mercilessly whipped sand at them as the tide advanced.

Baker, known affectionately as "Old Crab," waited patiently as he watched the others, some just more than a quarter his age, at work. At times, he'd offer a quiet word of advice to Henriksen from within the confines of the truck.

"Another job well done," he murmured quietly as this latest mini-drama, too, became a memory.