Nassau County volunteer firefighters honored for helping with Israel emergency response

A ceremony Monday in Westbury paid tribute to five volunteer firefighters from Nassau County who traveled to Israel and helped on emergency calls after firefighters there had joined the country's war with Hamas.

Floral Park firefighter Steve Diglio, Lawrence-Cedarhurst firefighter Jason Stukes and paramedic Shoshana Weiner and Manhasset-Lakeville firefighters Sky Gordon and Michael Lu recently returned from taking part in the Israel-based Emergency Volunteers Project, which deploys disaster relief and rescue organizations during times of crisis.

The event Monday was held at the Nassau County Fire Commission office and was attended by about 50 community members, elected leaders and fire department officials.

Stukes said he went to offer moral and mental support to Israeli firefighters who were drafted into the military. He responded to calls, including after rockets and bombs struck buildings, sending fragments into the street, but that was as close to the war as he got.

He said he volunteered through the Emergency Volunteers Project and was called the next day. Stukes was deployed Oct. 22 and returned Nov. 5.

“It was nothing really crazy. We didn’t see any war scenes,” Stukes said. “After working in Lawrence-Cedarhurst, it was pretty much a life-changing event for me. It was what anyone would have done."

Gordon, who like Stukes said he plans to go back to Israel on a future deployment, was stationed between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and responded primarily to brushfires caused by flaming debris that fell from the sky and ignited in the desert. 

“After the Oct. 7 attacks, I was in a pretty dark head space and I was looking for volunteer opportunities,” Gordon said. “Just to help, because I had this skill set and I wanted to put it to use … I had the ability to get on the ground and do some good and I wanted to be able to do that.”

At the ceremony, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman recounted the horrors of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas and praised the local firefighters for "doing your part.”

“For our firefighters to courageously join this effort to represent our county, it makes me incredibly proud of them for their courage and understanding that they were standing up for Western Civilization,” Blakeman said. “You as firefighters should be very proud of your brothers and sisters going to Israel and getting on the front lines."

Lu, who was at college Monday, was represented by his fire captain, and Diglio, who is deployed with the National Guard, was represented by his wife.

Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro said the firefighters who deployed operated fire trucks and were joined by other American firefighter volunteers from across the country.

“Most of Israel’s Fire and EMS have a dual role in the military and many were called up to fight and left them somewhat shorthanded,” Uttaro said before the event. 

The Long Island contingent included not only Jewish members, but also Italian and Chinese Americans, Uttaro said.

“It appealed to our sense of brotherhood and sisterhood to help out those in need, and what we went through on 9/11 when firefighters from Canada and England … came here,” Uttaro said. “The same feeling still applies to those who helped us.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.