The Babylon Fire Department proved they really are "Babylon's Bravest" – firefighters fought four blazes throughout the village on Monday evening and took more than 60 calls for evacuations, distress and wires on fire.
"I have nothing but praise for my members," said Chief Paul Twardy, who said all of his members spent the night in the firehouse even after power cut out early on during Sandy. "These guys were up all night and have been sleeping on cots here."
The fire department stared down the impossible to fight fires last night on Little East Neck Road and Trask Lane, both heavily flooded before Sandy made landfall.
The first fire destroyed one home at 406 Little East Neck Road entirely, leaving just a smoldering wreck and a chimney standing, and sparked two fires on either side of it. One home at 408 Little East Neck Road saw extensive damage while the home at 404 Little East Neck escaped with much less damage.
A home on Trask Lane was also lost during the evening after a roof collapse during a fire.
"My guys were fighting in waist deep water all night long," said Twardy. "Access was very tough for us. We needed trucks from nearly every fire department to get down there."
In addition to the fires, additional calls came into the fire department for fallen power wires on fire, boats loose in the water and trees falling everywhere – not to mention the 12 evacuees that had to be plucked from the water south of Main Street.
"It was just a struggle south of Montauk," Twardy noted. "We had great assistance from local fire departments when we needed to call in."
The fire department had one last miracle for their brave, hard work – no injuries for either firefighters or residents. In addition, all fire equipment made it in and out of the waters unscathed.
"We pride ourselves on keeping safe and keeping our stuff safe," said Twardy.
