Several lawmakers and North Shore-area emergency service workers on Friday urged the state Legislature to approve a law establishing a notification system for residential properties constructed using truss beams susceptible to collapse during fires.
The proposed legislation mirrors a similar state law requiring commercial property owners to place a warning decal on the electrical boxes outside their buildings warning firefighters that the residence was constructed using the truss system, which officials said has been more commonly used in recent years.
At press time, the bill had not yet been voted on by the Senate. The Legislative session ends on June 19.
“It is our No. 1 responsibility to ensure safety. This bill allows that to happen and save lives,” said Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) at a press conference at the Albertson Fire Company’s headquarters on I.U. Willets Road. “I expect that this bill will pass not only in the Senate but the Assembly as well and give the governor an opportunity to sign it into law.”
The law, first introduced by Martins and state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel five years ago, would require municipal building officials to notify local fire departments of new permit applications for residences utilizing truss construction. Code enforcement officials would then be required to notify emergency service responders of the truss construction.
“I hear those fire alarms at night and I hear the sirens and I roll over and go back to sleep, but I pray that you get home safe to your families and this is a small token of our appreciation to the work you do keeping us safe,” Schimel said.
Firefighters from several North Shore departments, including Albertson, Mineola, Roslyn, and Manhasset-Lakeville, joined Martins and Schimel on Friday in support of the proposed legislation.
“It gives us a head’s up. It gives us a chance when we arrive,” said Mike Uttaro, a Village of Williston Park trustee and assistant chief with the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office.
Truss construction – defined by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as structural timbers glued together in a metal framework – easily collapse during a fire, officials said. Truss construction, they said, caused problems in two major fires earlier this year in Albertson and the Village of North Hills.
In January, a fire that began in the basement walls of a North Hills home led to the collapse of the building’s entire first floor, requiring the assistance of more than 100 firefighters from 10 departments.
Nearly a week later, the roof of an Albertson townhouse constructed using truss beams caved in shortly after firefighters working to extinguish a fire there retreated from the building, crashing through the second floor.
Albertson fire teams were aided by 80 members from 14 departments, including Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Garden City Park, New Hyde Park, Manhasset-Lakeville and Great Neck Vigilant.
“We were safe, we all got to go home to our families that night,” Joel Melamed, the Albertson Fire Company’s 1st Assistant Chief, said on Friday. “But it was a close call, closer than we’d like.”
