Main Street Fire House Closed as Wind Causes Cupola to Lean

The cupola atop the Setauket Fire Department's Main Street fire house is leaning sideways amid the heavy winds, forcing the temporary closure of the fire house, a fire district official said Thursday.

"We're in the process of trying to fix this," said district manager David Sterne, who said fire department response times will not be affected as the vehicles have been relocated to other stations and firefighters are on standby there as well. The fire siren contained within the cupola has been temporarily disabled, but crews will still receive calls via their radio pagers.

"We have barricades and tape around the firehouse. A crane company came to respond, but it's still too windy to even put a crane up," Sterne said.

He said a Brookhaven town building inspector deemed the building unsafe until the cupola is repaired.

The Main Street fire house was originally constructed in 1931 and has had additions and renovations over the decades since. It has been a topic of discussion lately within the fire district, which has planned a meeting of the Community Building Committee to discuss the future of the fire house. The fire district recently hired an architect to draw up building plans for both renovation of the existing fire house and reconstruction of a new fire house.

The Community Building Committee will meet Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at the district's headquarters at 26 Hulse Road, East Setauket.