August 10, 2017 — First On The Scene — Herald Community Newspapers
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The Hewlett F.D., from humble start to major department
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By Caroline Ryan Photos, trophies and memorials adorn the walls of the Hewlett Firehouse, telling the 126-year history of the department. In 1891, Hewlett, the community, comprised a few dozen farmhouses, a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a coal and grain company. About 20 firefighters first came together to form the department. They didn’t have uniforms or badges at the time. According to a department history by Leo Sarro, a volunteer with Hose Company No. 1, “From this humble gathering of 20 or so men...there have been many firsts since this meeting, and much has changed, but a lot has remained the same.” On Feb. 17, 1892, the department first purchased 25 badges. Each member bought his own. Six members even purchased uniforms. Thus the fire department was born as an official body, and it has been protecting the community ever since. A major conflagration broke out at the Woodmere School in September 1916. The school was out of commission for a year. Fire volunteers held a special meeting and decided to use two rooms at the firehouse as classrooms. The next month, the fire department had to put proper heating and plumbing into the firehouse to accommodate the students. On Jan. 26, 1944, one of the biggest fires in the community’s history broke out at Milk’s Department Store on Broadway. An employee mistakenly called the Woodmere Fire Department. The second call came to the Hewlett Fire Department from a nearby store. By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze had destroyed most of the building. Further assistance from the Woodmere, Lawrence-Cedarhurst and Inwood fire departments was needed. Damage was estimated at $105,000, an astronomical amount of money at the time. The firehouse itself has been enlarged a number of times as fire trucks have become bigger and more advanced. A new firehouse was constructed in 1927.
It still stands on Franklin Avenue, south of Broadway. In 1992, construction of a new firehouse was approved by the Board of Fire Commissioners. In 1994, the new building finally became accessible, and the old building was demolished that same year. 1995 was a year of many firsts for the Hewlett Fire Department. That was when the department accepted its first woman firefighter, Karen Pfieffer, and its first two female fire medics, Susan Hyman and Mary Marmorato. Sept. 11, 2001 is remembered as a day of sorrow by all in the department. Hewlett fire volunteer Kevin O’Rourke was killed in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. O’Rourke was also a professional firefighter for the New York Fire Department’s Rescue Two. He died trying to save others at the Twin Towers. There is a memorial in O’Rourke’s honor at the firehouse, with a plaque, a uniform and photographs. The street parallel to the LawrenceCedarhurst Fire Department was named Kevin O’Rourke Way in honor of the fallen firefighter. (O’Rourke was also once a Lawrence-Cedarhurst firefighter.) The department currently has 131 active volunteers. “We are there to help you. We come out from our bed in the middle of the night to help people. We practice like we play,” said Jamie Lewin, the department’s first assistant chief and a member of Hose Company One. Department members train at least once every Sunday, as well as a few nights a week throughout the month to keep their skills intact, Lewin said. Hurricane Sandy challenged the Hewlett Fire Department. In the weeks after the storm, the department was called a number of times because electrical fires broke out in storm-damaged houses when people turned their electricity back on and electrical lines damaged by saltwater burst into flames.
2 This September, the department will receive a new fleet of fire trucks, including a ladder truck and an ambulance. “We are one big family here … We are here for the community, and we are here to save lives … This is what we do,” Lewin said. n
‘W
e are one big family here … We are here for the community, and we are here to save lives … This is what we do.
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Jamie Lewin First assistant chief, Hewlett Fire Department
1- Members of the Hewlett Fire Department marched recently in the Fourth Battalion Parade as an invited guest. 2- The Hewlett department’s trucks on display. Photos by Bill Kelly/Herald