Volunteer firefighters pushed to the limit by series of fires in 48 hours

Firefighters were spread thin between Wednesday and Thursday.

News 12 Staff

May 7, 2021, 8:22 PM

Updated 1,310 days ago

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A number of fires in a short 48-hour span has pushed volunteer firefighters on Long Island to the limit.
Firefighters were spread thin between Wednesday and Thursday.
There was a massive fire in Westbury at Jamaica Ash and Rubbish Removal that started Wednesday and still had hot spots on Thursday. Then a house fire in Garden City claimed the lives of three family members.
When firefighter Daniel Iglesias arrived at the Jamaica Ash fire, he had no idea this would be the beginning of multiple fires in the county.
"It was fully involved," says Iglesias. "There was pretty much nothing that wasn't burning."
That fire required help from just about every fire department in Nassau and some from Suffolk.
Thursday night there was a house explosion in East Meadow and a house fire in Westbury.
Firefighters pulled long shifts and were away from work and family.
The East Meadow Fire Chief Paul Kosiba says some days there are no calls and some days there are multiple calls. He says this week the magnitude of calls that came in is pretty much unprecedented.
Kosiba says the key to fighting through the exhaustion is to remember the oath to serve the community and remember your training.
Iglesias, who has served for 37 years, says his dad and grandfather were also firefighters so it's in his blood.