An early morning fire on Jan. 22 that damaged an abandoned building north of Republic Airport in East Farmingdale took 100 responding volunteer firefighters almost three hours to extinguish.

Conklin Street was closed for over an hour while firefighters battled the blaze that is being investigated by the Suffolk Arson Squad as "suspicious."

"There has been a chronic problem of people gaining access to the building," explained Det. Sgt. Bruce Tilden of the Suffolk County Police Department's Arson Squad. "Whether they're using it as a hangout or to temporarily reside in - it's been going on for a long time."

The two-and-a-half-story structure, owned by the New York State Department of Transportation, has been abandoned for 20 years.

"There is no power, heating system or cooking stove, so why would you have a fire?" added Tilden. "There is no reason for a fire to start there. It's pretty obvious that the fire was recklessly or intentionally done."

The building has been the victim of previous fires so officials said it is hard to determine what damage is new.

"There are holes in the roof and things like that, some of which pre-existed the fire," Tilden said. "The building is in a dilapidated and unsafe state."

Gary Lewi, a spokesperson for the Farmingdale-based Republic Airport, said "there are no current plans to demolish the building."

"There are, however, redevelopment proposals for the site that would see many of the structures currently on the property either rehabilitated or torn down. As those concepts move forward in what will be a comprehensive review and RFP process, a decision will be made at that time as to the fate of these buildings."

Town of Babylon Fire Marshal Chief Gilbert W. Hanse added, "the building was in a state of disrepair before the fire. The fire did damage to the building, but the whole building should be torn down."

Hanse also reported that no firefighters were injured during the fire and Lewi added that there was no interruption in air traffic operations.