April 18, 1931. Flames fanned by high winds swept through forest land on the border of Brentwood and Hauppauge, near Hauppauge Commack Road. The fire was discovered at approximately 9AM by a fire patrol from the CLIPA*, and was not brought under control until late in the afternoon by firefighters from the Smithtown and Brentwood Fire Departments, assisted by several hundred civilians and a large crew from the Central Long Island Protective Association. Crews used water and backfires. The fire jumped Motor Parkway and burned down into Brentwood This fire was believed to have been started by a landowner illegally burning under brush, which required a permit from the area State Fire Warden.
The CLIPA is the Central Long Island Protective Association. This group, which was formed in 1929 by very wealthy residents of Hauppauge/Commack/Brentwood after one of the largest fires on Long Island swept through several hundred acres of valuable lumber, patrolled roughly 12,000 acres of woodland, maintaining an alarm system and fire fighting crews. They had some type of fire apparatus but I am not certain as to exactly what that was.
From the April 19, 1931 Brooklyn Daily Times:
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