Island Recreation fire deemed an accident

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The March 31 fire that engulfed Island Recreational, on Hicksville Road in Seaford, has been deemed unsuspicious, according to the Nassau County fire marshal’s office.

The blaze broke out at around 2:15 p.m. in a shopping center that has a dozen stores. Island Recreational, which sells and maintains swimming pools, was destroyed, and a karate business, a barbershop and a Chinese restaurant were damaged as well, though no one was seriously injured.

“All I can say is that I’m working with my adjuster,” said Steve Newman, the businesses’ landlord. “As soon as the shopping center is cleared by the fire marshal, then my adjuster will go to work and try to rebuild whatever was damaged.”

Jeff Katz, who owns one of the stores, Ice Cream Treats and Sweets, is a former employee of Island Recreational. “When I was a kid, I worked at their store in Merrick,” Katz recalled. “When that closed, I came to this one and worked there for years.”

Three years ago, Katz opened a business of his own just a few doors away.

Two Mondays ago, he said, “I started to smell something, walked outside and saw all the smoke. I locked up my store and got out of here. I know how they have chemicals. I didn’t want to take any chances.”

Barry Baer has owned another one of the stores, Comfort Cooling Systems Corp., for more than 20 years. He was in his office doing paperwork when he noticed something was amiss. “I started to smell something abnormal,” Baer recounted. “I walked outside and saw flames.”

Baer has two work vans. He grabbed the keys and moved one out of harm’s way, but by the time he returned, he said, the other van was engulfed in flames.

“My mind was racing,” he said. “The most important thing is that nobody got hurt. Everything else can be fixed.”

Dean Wilson, the owner of Once Upon a Child, said that his workers heard crackling in the ceiling and then a pop. “They saw the flames and got out,” he said. He credited the shopping center’s firewalls, which have been in place for years, for stopping the fire from spreading further. If the walls had been made of sheetrock, Wilson said, all of the stores would have been destroyed.

“I’m planning on being down for about a week,” he said. “You have about 200 people out of work throughout the shopping center.”

Several attempts to contact Island Recreational executives were unsuccessful. “Our Franklin Square, Medford and Deer Park locations are open 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. seven days per week,” said a recorded message. “Our [Seaford] location is closed until further notice.”