Nassau County Firefighters Museum promotes barbecue safety at grilling throw down

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With great barbecue ribs comes great responsibility.

The Nassau County Firefighters Museum held their annual Grilling Throwdown on Sept. 12 at the Atria in Roslyn Harbor. The friendly grilling competition pits local fire departments and the staff at the Atria against each other.

Members of the Roslyn and Syosset fire departments and the chefs at the Atria cooked their best chicken, ribs and pulled pork sliders that were judged by a panel that included the residents at the Atria, a senior living community.

The event was more than just about cooking, however, said Alana Petrocelli the executive director of the museum. “As the season is wrapping up, people are still having barbecues outside or bringing their barbecues inside and we want to make sure they stay safe,” Petrocelli said.

The East Meadow resident explained that children and senior citizens are the most vulnerable to fires. She teaches about fire safety year-round through the museum, a topic that she said is important to her as a mother of three children, all of whom attend Parkway Elementary School in East Meadow.

The museum’s Grilling Throwdown began at Fairway in Westbury before moving to the Atria three years ago. This year’s competition included a secret ingredient that each contestant had to use: tomatoes. Chefs incorporated different kinds of tomatoes in their recipes to create their own specialty dishes. When the residents had their feast, everybody was a winner.