Fire at Rudy's Declared Accidental, Fire Marshal Closes Case

The Feb. 22 fire at has been declared an accidental fire and the investigation has been closed, according to the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office.

"It was certainly an accidental fire, not a suspicious fire or anything of that nature," said Vincent McManus of the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office. "There were repairs being made to the vehicle at the time of the fire involving the vehicle's fuel system. We believe the reason the fire may have started is from some fuels being spilled in connection to those repairs being made and the gasoline being ignited by possibly a light the mechanic was using."

Around 3 p.m that Tuesday, the received a call for a building fire in the vicinity of Potter Street and Fulton Street. Responding members soon found out they were dealing with a at Rudy’s Auto Repair Shop located at 1040 Fulton Street, with reports that the plume of smoke could be seen as far as Wantagh.

Since the reported area of the fire is on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County, the was also activated and responded to the alarm.

Farmingdale Village Captain Ryan Tortoso, who was acting chief at the time, was the first Farmingdale Fire Department unit to arrive on scene. After his arrival, Captain Tortoso transmitted a second alarm for the working building fire.

"After arriving on scene, my first thoughts were making sure everyone was out of the building followed by protecting the building behind it since the fire building was a total loss," he said. "I knew with the heavy fire load and close exposures that a second alarm would be needed for additional resources.”

Many looked on as the Farmingdale Village department, along with South Farmingdale, Bethpage and North Amityville Fire Departments, combated the blaze.

After all visible fire was knocked down and the fire was placed under control around 4:30 p.m., Town of Babylon wreckers were called in to demolish what was left of the repair shop. Farmingdale Village units were on scene from the time of alarm until around 8 p.m., after the building was fully demolished and all pockets of fire had been extinguished.

"The case has been closed," McManus said.