Former Oceanside fire chief takes over state role

A former Oceanside fire chief will be inducted as president of the state's firefighters  association in Syracuse on Sunday, becoming the 12th association president from Long Island during its nearly 150-year history.
Steven Klein, 71, is the first president of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York to come from the Second Battalion — which is made up of firefighters from the Baldwin, Freeport, Long Beach, Oceanside, Island Park and Point Lookout-Lido departments — since 1919. The retired mail carrier has been active in lobbying for legislation for firefighters' health and safety, as well as programs to recruit new volunteers.

Klein joined the Oceanside Fire Department in 1965 at age 18, about two years after firefighters responded to his home when his father, who was ill, became unresponsive and later died . They "tried very hard to resuscitate him and I made up my mind then that I would become a firefighter," said Klein.

"I had the opportunity to go different ways in my life and when I joined the fire department, those people who mentored me helped me take my life in the right direction," he said. 

He went on to become the department's chief in 1984 and has served on the Fire Chiefs’ Council of Nassau County, the Nassau County Firemen’s Association, the Nassau County Fire Commission and the Second Battalion Fire District. He's been involved in the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) since the late 1960s, including as second and first vice president on the association's board and as a trustee for the FASNY Firemen’s Home. He ran uncontested for the organization's president position this year.

His son Kevin Klein Sr.  is the current Oceanside chief and his 18-year-old grandson Christopher Klein joined the department about three months ago, he said. 

Robert McConville, an ex-captain in the Selden Fire Department and current commissioner and board chairman for its fire district, was FASNY's 11th Long Island president. Of the state's roughly 105,000 volunteer firefighters, McConville estimated about 20,000 are Long Islanders.

Having a local president "brings the concerns of the largest group of volunteer firefighters in the state to the leadership of the state of New York,” he said.