Fire Department

Herald file photo– The Bayville Fire Department celebrated its acquisition of a new fire boat a few years ago.

Bayville Fire Department remain determined to protect the community

By Letisha Dass

Being a first responder during the Covid-19 pandemic has become more than a shift by shift challenge. Protocols and community interactions have drastically changed to ensure the safety of department and community members. For the Bayville Fire Department, schedule and protocol changes, and a determination to continue to protect the community during a crisis helped the department succeed in its efforts.

In cases of emergency during the pandemic, the ambulance staff was limited to three persons on a route for calls of any nature, and only one staff member entered homes to triage patients. This change of protocol was meant to limit exposure for both the patients and staff members.

“During height of the pandemic, every call from a sprained ankle to fever was treated as a Covid patient,” said Bayville Fire Department Chief Joseph Rodgers. “Everyone wore full PPE throughout the call and decontaminated before interacting with others.”

Having volunteer firefighters willing to provide their time and potentially risk their safety exemplifies the valor of the department. Their generosity shows that they are willing to protect their community and provide the resources the department needs to succeed in its endeavors.

“As volunteers, our community is mostly friends, family or neighbors of our membership,” Rodgers said. “As members of the community, we never hesitated to respond and be prepared prepandemic. It was unknown territory for everyone, but almost all our membership provided some form of support. Some members gave enormous effort that let us stay available all times day or night for the villages.”

The additional help of surrounding fire departments, like the Locust Valley Fire Department and Glenwood Fire Company, showed that it truly takes a village, especially with the need to have people on duty 24 hours. Working together to train and make sure that each department was ready for any emergency during this time exemplified the importance of teamwork for all first-responders.

FIRE Department

Atlantic Steamer Fire Department

Emergency: (516) 742-3300 Non-Emergency: (516) 922-5414 Address: 20 East Main Street Oyster Bay, N.Y. 11771 Chief: James Ceglia 1st Assistant Chief: Robert Knickman 2nd Assistant Chief: Darren Quintana Chief’s office: (516) 624-3215

Bayville Fire Department

Emergency number: (516) 742-3300 Non-emergency number: (516) 628-1922 Address: 258 Bayville Ave., Bayville, N.Y. 11709 Chief: Joseph Rodgers 1st Assistant Chief: Marc Bilbrey 2nd Assistant Chief: John T. Doyle EMS contact: Mario Orlassino

East Norwich Fire Department

Emergency: (516) 742-3300 Non-emergency: (516) 922-0263 Address: 900 Oyster Bay Rd., East Norwich, N.Y. 11732 Chief: Craig Bezman 1st Assistant Chief: Griffin Rosen 2nd Assistant Chief: Jason A. Shoemaker EMS liaisons: Pauline Cronin and Jeffrey A. Shoemaker

Locust Valley Fire Department

Emergency number: (516) 671-2600 Non-emergency number: (516) 676-0560 Address: 228 Buckram Road, Locust Valley, N.Y., 11560 Chief: James Neumeyer 1st Assistant Chief: Ralph Longo 2nd Assistant Chief: Jeffrey Converse 3rd Assistant Chief: Brian Nolan EMS contact: Lynn Ramskill

Oyster Bay Fire Department

Emergency Number: (516) 742-3300 Non-Emergency Number: (516) 922-0404 Address: 188 South St., Oyster Bay, N.Y. 11771 Chief: John Hambrook 1st Assistant Chief: Anthony Decarolis 2nd Assistant Chief: Thomas Rahilly EMS contact: Anthony Decarolis