Community Corner

Lynbrook VFW Re-Opening After 2011 Fire

More than a year after a Christmas Eve fire nearly engulfed the building, the Lynbrook Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 2307 is hosting its grand re-opening Sunday.

The VFW, located at 235 Merrick Road, is inviting all members of the community to come see the new hall and bar.

There will be a welcome address and ribbon-cutting ceremony from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by an open house for all residents from 4 to 10 p.m.

There will also be $2 drinks, free food and raffles.

It took firefighters more than an hour to bring the fire under control back on Dec. 24, 2011.

Various departments responded with 250 fire personnel and 12 pieces of fire apparatus.

Lynbrook firefighters were responding to a reported propane gas leak on a truck on Peninsula Boulevard when Engine Company 1, traveling on Merrick Road to the scene, saw smoke coming from the VFW’s one story building on the corner of Merrick Road and Vincent Avenue.

They broadcast a signal 10 for a working fire and immediately hooked up to the hydrant on that corner.

“If this fire had not been seen or even called in later, it could have destroyed the whole building," former Chief Michael Hynes said.


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