Upon recently passing the burnt-out, four-story building on Broadway on the Jericho-Hicksville border, I winced at the destruction that the flames had caused. The fire that occurred there on May 16 was reported as one of the worst in Jericho's history.

The yellow tape placed around the site to cordon it off was depressing. A dentist's office was exposed by the fire, which tore away at the outer facade, but left the dental equipment intact.

The plaques on the wall were not burned. They testified to the achievements of the owner dentist in the form of laminated diplomas. I could not read them as I passed by in my car, heading north on Broadway. As a former practicing dentist, it touched me deeply.

When I retired in 1994, I slowly removed my accomplishments in the form of wall plaques from the dental office. They sat on the walls for 35 years and were dusted by a series of employees who worked with me.

This Jericho dentist will have to rebuild his office and his professional career. I secretly hope that he has sufficient office insurance to tide him over during the next few months. Being under-insured when tragedy strikes is most unpleasant and results in after-the-fact soul searching.

I have known a few classmates whose offices have been closed by a fire. I called one of them. He showed much compassion for a colleague. His fire incident 20 years ago left him almost destitute, but he struggled to regain his life, and today he has a fine quality practice on Long Island. There is life after a setback.

Brad Barth's front-page article in the May 21 Syosset-Jericho Tribune fleshed out the fire in great detail. I read it and viewed the photographs. There is little hope that the same offices will ever be used again, according to a fire officer.

I passed the building again a week after the fire. The entire building is enshrouded with a huge baby-blue plastic sheet. It covers the carbon scars and twisted, burned metal, but it doesn't hide the human tragedies that have resulted from a blazing office building in suburbia.