Wantagh Christmas tree lighting postponed due to fire

The holiday spirit was put on hold after a fire at the Wantagh Preservation Society  postponed  an annual Christmas tree lighting Saturday. No injuries were reported, officials said.

The annual Winter Wonderland, which typically attracts 4,000 people, kicked off at noon with shopping, food vendors, a petting zoo and photos with Santa before volunteers from the Wantagh Fire Department noticed smoke emerging from the roof and chimney of the Victorian Railroad Station at the site.

“They noticed the fire on the roof, so they called us and we got there within three minutes,” said Kevin Regan, a public information officer for the Wantagh Fire Department. Regan said several volunteers had already been at the site for a recruitment event.

Regan estimated about 50 to 60 volunteers worked to put out the blaze, which burned a hole in the middle of the roof. Wantagh, Seaford and North Bellmore fire departments responded to the scene, according to Wantagh chief Paul Krussmann.

Krussmann said the county fire marshal is still investigating what caused the fire to break out shortly after 3:30 p.m.

“It looks like it came from the pot belly stove inside,” he said.

Officials said everyone safely evacuated the building, which dates to 1885 and was moved to the site in 1966 to save it from demolition. The nonprofit Wantagh Preservation Society opened a museum in the building in 1982, according to the preservation website.

Preservation society president Beth Obergh said the firefighters were “phenomenal and caring” for swiftly putting out the fire but also saving artifacts from inside the Victorian building.

“There’s a significant amount of damage, but we got out a lot,” she said. “Our entire museum is now on the train.”

Volunteers moved possibly thousands of items in their collection from the building to a train car temporarily for safekeeping. The artifacts include historic papers, photographs, maps, and books, Obergh said.

Once the fire was extinguished, a crew was beginning to patch the roof with plywood and tarps. Officials were still determining the extent of damage Saturday night.

The Wantagh Chamber of Commerce organizes the annual festival and tree lighting to kick off the holiday season. “I'm grateful that nobody was hurt,” said chamber president Cathy McGrory Powell. “I'm also grateful that it didn't happen later at night where maybe we would not have noticed it … and there would have been more damage.”

The tree lighting was postponed Saturday because electricity was disconnected at the site. Powell hopes the event can be rescheduled. “We’ll figure something out and maybe just let the community know and they'll meet us all here and we'll have the pipe band playing,” she said, though no date has been set.

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire and smoke, Regan said. “It was noticed and it was dealt with rather quickly, and no injuries, so as good an outcome as possible,” he said. “Unfortunately, it just ruined the evening for a lot of people who were looking forward to it.”

With Tara Conry-Berghorn