On Monday Oct. 23, the peace and quiet of the Village of Plandome was disturbed by an alarm called in to its fire department at 11:08 a.m. It was from an employee of the Reconstructionist Synagogue and School at 1001 Plandome Road reporting a basement fire. The fact that young children attended the religious school made the call even more compelling.

Plandome's first truck arrived on the scene within two minutes at 11:10 under the initial command of Captain Roger Goodwin and included veteran engineer Bill Miller and front line firefighters Matt Temares and Susan Foley. Sixty- five children and 22 staff were evacuated without injury. The fire started in the basement and Goodwin led the initial hose line and team there to size up the situation and attack the source of the flames. At the same time he declared a "Signal 10" which alerted neighboring departments to the serious nature of the fire and resulted in an automatic call for mutual aid. Plandome's second fire truck arrived with ex-Chief Scott Wilson as Engineer and Dick Knies as shotgun.

Despite being hit quickly by water from the first line the fire spread through the walls to the cockloft and through the roof. Goodwin's efforts slowed down the spread of the fire and permitted the timely evacuation of the first line to prevent serious injury to his firefighters.

By then Chief of Department Roger Coleman arrived on the scene having made the journey from his office in Garden City to Plandome in 14 minutes. He took command of the scene and began co-coordinating the efforts of mutual aid responders from Port Washington's three fire companies and their rescue unit, Manhasset Lakeville's five companies, Great Neck Alert, Great Neck Vigilant, Roslyn Fire Department and an ambulance from the Nassau County Police Department.

After concerted efforts the fire was brought under control and finally extinguished without serious injury to firefighters. Initial inspection of the scene by the Nassau County Fire Marshal indicated the fire had no suspicious origin and might have been caused by a faulty dehumidifier in the basement.

Over 50 firefighters and 11 pieces of fire apparatus were involved. Chief Coleman had high praise for Plandome's quick response and the total commitment and support of neighboring fire departments. He said, "The synagogue is one of the buildings for which we have an established preplan and train each year how to respond to an incident there. Additionally, we regularly conduct mutual aid drills with our brother fire departments. Today that training paid off."