TIMES HERALD THE VILLAGE
STONY BROOK • OLD FIELD • STRONG’S NECK • SETAUKET • EAST SETAUKET • SOUTH SETAUKET • POQUOT T
Volume 40, No. 39
H o m e
F o r
T H e
H o l i d a y s
Fire breaks at SBU
BY PHIL CORSO
Free Gift Catalog TIMES BEACON RECORD NEWS MEDIA • NOVEMBER 26, 2015 THE EXCLUSIVE FREE FERRY PUBLICATION
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A ferocious fire inside a dormitory building at Stony Brook University has left multiple floors and rooms damaged, the university said Monday. The blaze broke out Saturday night in a student’s room on the second floor of O’Neill College, one of four residential buildings in Mendelsohn Quad, officials said. It took teams from various fire departments in the community to extinguish the flames and forced about 115 student residents to relocate to temporary housing, the university said in a statement. The cause was still under investigation and there were no reported injuries. “The fire was contained to one bedroom on E-wing [of the dormitory] with some damage to several room doors on multiple floors of the wing as well as some water and smoke damage,” the university said in a statement. “Professional and student staff within campus residences immediately began to work diligently to provide resident students with the resources and support needed, and continue to do so.”
University police initially reported the fire before crews arrived. The Setauket Fire Department responded to the call and received mutual aid from the Stony Brook, St. James and Port Jefferson departments. There, officials found that the dorm room where the flames originated was completely destroyed. Setauket firefighters had to carry hoses up to the second f loor because there were no standpipes there to connect to, due to the building’s decades-old architecture, the Setauket Fire Department said in a statement. “Once water was brought to bear, most flames were extinguished and the remainder of the alarm resulted in cleaning out debris to ensure there was no extension to the fi re,” the department said in a statement. The university said the displaced residents would return to the building when it is properly restored. “Currently there are professional fire restoration personnel on-site working to repair the facility in conjunction with our campus residence operations and risk management staff,” the university said in a statement.
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Photo from SFD/R. O’Rourk
Setauket firefighters get set with a ladder to approach the second-floor dormitory fire area as soon as interior firefighters put water on the fire.
Brookhaven braves cold in sixth annual Polar Plunge BY GISELLE BARKLEY
Residents were “freezin’ for a reason” at Cedar Beach last Saturday for the Town of Brookhaven’s sixth annual Polar Plunge. Some of the countless residents in attendance took the plunge into the chilly waters of the Long Island Sound to help raise money for the athletes of the Special Olympics New York. Plungers who raised at least $125 received a sweatshirt for their efforts. Members of the Suffolk
County Police Department, Nestle Nesquik, Long Island’s My Country 96.1 FM and local government officials, including Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) and Councilman Neil Foley (R_ Blue Point), were there to show their support or join the plungers and take a dip in the water. Despite the breezy weather and cold currents, some residents left the water saying the water wasn’t as chilly as last year. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Brookhaven Town residents run headlong into the cold Long Island Sound at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai Saturday for the sixth annual Polar Plunge, which raises funds for the Special Olympics.