3 firefighters suffer minor injuries battling fire at Hicksville auto body shop
According to detectives, officers responded to a building fire at Omega Auto Body on Jerusalem Avenue around 7 p.m. Monday.
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A fire broke out at Omega Auto Body on Jerusalem Avenue in Hicksville Monday night. The family-owned business that has been serving Long Island for 50 years was boarded up on Tuesday.
“We left at 5 o’clock. There’s a mechanic next door. He saw smoke and he went around the building, and he felt something was wrong. He felt the doors were hot. He called the fire department, and they came within minutes,” said employee Vincent Barilla.
Nassau County police, the Hicksville Fire Department and several other fire departments responded. According to police, two firefighters suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention. Another firefighter suffered an eye injury and was taken to the hospital. No one else was hurt.
According to the fire marshal, it took a little over an hour to get the fire under control. The Hicksville Fire Department Hazmat Team worked with fire marshals, due to paint and hazardous materials inside the shop.
The owner of the auto body shop told News 12 that he’s been calling customers to update them about their cars, and he doesn’t think any of them were damaged.
Employees said it will be a long time before the shop reopens.
“I guess we’ll get back on our feet and keep on going, you know. That’s all you can do,” said Barilla.
Nassau police say the cause of the fire is electrical and is not deemed suspicious.
