The MTA Long Island Rail Road has provided Suffolk County firefighters with a pumper tank to help control brush fires in the county.
The LIRR’s pumper tanks hold roughly 10,000 gallons of water and are staged in Ronkonkoma and Speonk during brush fire season. In normal conditions, the railroad uses tankers to spray down the right of way, keeping the brush moist and creating less of a fire hazard.
The pumper tanks had already been shut down and stored for the season when a request from the town of Southampton was received due to the threat of brush fires from New York’s severe drought. The LIRR deployed the pumper tank Tuesday night to spray water along the right of ways between Southampton and Speonk as a deterrent.
Local fire departments can use the pumper tanks to fill their pumper trucks when fighting fires near LIRR tracks.
