I am writing you to explain the reasons why the Easter bunny parade was conducted in such a quick manner this year. During the course of the parade I noticed a number of residents motioning to slow down so I thought I was warranted to explain why.

At 2:13 p.m. my department was dispatched to a brush fire in Hempstead Lake State Park. This brush fire engulfed five acres of the park. It took several hours to extinguish. It took two departments and about 40 men to bring it under control. My units were secure in headquarters at 5:04 p.m. The bunny ride was scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. The members now were dirty, sweaty, and tired. I sent them home to clean up and come back so we did not disappoint the community. My members were ready to start the parade around 5:30 p.m. The parade normally takes three hours to complete. The problem I faced was that I had a departmental funeral service for a member's father, which all members were to assemble at headquarters at 7:30 p.m. So therein lies the dilemma, I had less than two hours to complete a three hour parade and allow time for my members to go home and change into their dress uniform and assemble at the funeral home. So instead of canceling the parade and disappointing the residents, I decided to step up the pace of the parade in an effort to fit it all in. We finished the parade in less than two hours and unfortunately were late to the funeral by a few minutes.

So I hope you can understand why the parade was done in the speed you saw. I do apologize for this, but as you can see I had no choice. Hopefully in the future we do not have to face this problem and are able to have the parade at its normal pace. Thank you for your time.

Gabe Scognamiglio, chief, West Hempstead Fire Department