Fire Island Informations

Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the south shore of the mainland of Long Island. The island is approximately 31 miles (50 km) long and varies between 520 and 1,310 feet (160 and 400 m) wide. Its land area is 24.9 square kilometres (6,152.9 acres; 9.6 square miles). Fire Island is part of Suffolk County, New York. It lies within the towns of Babylon, Islip, and Brookhaven, containing two villages and a number of hamlets. All parts of the island not within village limits are part of the Fire Island census-designated place (CDP), which had a permanent population of 292 at the 2010 United States Census, though that expands to thousands of residents and tourists during the summer months. Since the late 1930s, the island has been a popular destination for the LGBTQQIA+ community. Every year on the fourth of July hundreds of drag queens board the ferry from Cherry Grove to The Pines in a reenactment of the 1976 act of solidarity now known as the "Invasion of the Pines".

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy breached Fire Island in three places. Two of the breaches were filled in, but the third has remained open, and under a plan by the U.S. National Park Service, will be left to evolve naturally. As of 2018, Fire Island is still split in two by the Wilderness Breach.

Fire Island lies an average of 3.9 miles (6.3 km) off the south shore of Long Island, but nearly touches it along the east end. It is separated from Long Island by Great South Bay, which spans interconnected bays along Long Island: Patchogue Bay, Bellport Bay, Narrow Bay, and Moriches Bay. The island is accessible by automobile near each end: via Robert Moses Causeway on its western end, and by William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk County Road 46) near its eastern end. Cross-bay ferries connect to over 10 points in between. Motor vehicles are not permitted on the rest of the island, except for utility, construction and emergency access and with limited beach-driving permits in winter. The island and its resort towns are accessible by boat, seaplane and a number of ferries, which depart from Bay Shore (Fire Island Ferries), Sayville, and Patchogue.

Fire Island is located at 40°39'35" north, 73°5'23" west (40°39′11″N 73°07′34″W / 40.653°N 73.126°W / 40.653; -73.126Coordinates: 40°39′11″N 73°07′34″W / 40.653°N 73.126°W / 40.653; -73.126). According to the United States Census Bureau, Fire Island has a land area of 9.6 square miles (24.9 km2).

The dimensions of the island have changed over time and they continue to change. At one point it stretched more than 60 miles (97 km) from Jones Beach Island to Southampton.

Around 1683, Fire Island Inlet broke through, separating it from Jones Beach Island.

The Fire Island Inlet grew to 9 miles (14 km) in width before receding. The Fire Island Lighthouse was built in 1858, right on the inlet, but Fire Island's western terminus at Democrat Point has steadily moved west so that the lighthouse today is 6 miles (10 km) from the inlet.

Fire Island separated from Southampton in a 1931 Nor'easter when Moriches Inlet broke through. However, this was expected.The inlet widened on September 21, 1938. Moriches Inlet and efforts by local communities east of Fire Island to protect their beach front with jetties have led to an interruption in the longshore drift of sand going from east to west and is blamed for erosion of the Fire Island beachfront.Between these major breaks there have been reports over the years of at least six inlets that broke through the island but have since disappeared.

The origin of Fire Island's name is not certain. It is believed its Algonquian name was Sictem Hackey [ˡsiʨtəm ˡhɑʨkaɪ̯], which translates as "Land of the Secatogues". The Secatogues were a tribe in the area of the current town of Islip. It was part of what was also called the "Seal Islands".

The name of Fire Island first appeared on a deed in 1789.

Historian Richard Bayles suggested that the name derives from a misinterpretation or corruption of the Dutch word vijf ("five"), or in another version vier ("four"), referring to the number of islands near the Fire Island inlet. At times histories have referred to it in the plural, as "Fire Islands", because of the inlet breaks.

Other versions say the island derived its name from fires built on the sea's edge by Native Americans or by pirates to lure unsuspecting ships into the sandbars. Some say it is how portions of the island look to be on fire from sea in autumn. Yet another version says it comes from the rash caused by poison ivy on the island.

While the western portion of the island was referred to as Fire Island for many years, the eastern portion was referred to as Great South Beach until 1920, when widespread development caused the whole land mass to be called Fire Island.

William "Tangier" Smith held title to the entire island in the 17th century, under a royal patent from Thomas Dongan. The remnants of Smith's Manor of St. George are open to the public in Shirley, New York.

A 2009 beach renourishment program was credited with saving the island from the full effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

In the winter and spring of 2009, a beach renourishment project was undertaken on Fire Island, with the cooperation of the National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Towns of Brookhaven and Islip, and Fire Island residents. The renourishment program involved dredging sand from an offshore borrow area, pumping it onto the beach and shaping the sand into an approved beach face and dune template in front of the communities of Corneille Estates, Davis Park, Dunewood, Fair Harbor, Fire Island Pines, Fire Island Summer Club, Lonelyville, Ocean Bay Park, Ocean Beach, Saltaire, and Seaview. Fire Islanders agreed to a significant property tax increase to help pay for the project, which was estimated to cost between $23 and $25 million ($6,020 per housing unit), including the cost of environmental monitoring, and was expected to add 1,400,000 cubic meters (1,800,000 cubic yards) of sand in front of the participating communities. The Towns of Brookhaven and Islip, in which the communities are located, issued bonds to pay for the project, backed by the new taxes levied by community Erosion Control Taxing Districts.

The island was heavily damaged in the high tides associated with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, including three breaches around Smith Point County Park on the sparsely populated east end of the island. The biggest breach was at Old Inlet in the Otis Pike Wilderness Area just west of Smith Point County Park; it was 108 feet wide after the storm on the south end and 1,171 feet on February 28, 2013. Officials moved to close the other two breaches which are on either side of Moriches Inlet—one in Cupsogue County Park and the other one being in Smith Point County Park.

Officials debated whether to close the largest breach, dubbed the Wilderness Breach, but ultimately decided to let nature take its course, as the breach was flushing out the Great South Bay and improving water quality. Residents of the bay front communities noted increased flooding after the storm, which was later found to be the result of several nor'easters and unrelated to the breaches. As of August 2019[update], the Wilderness Breach remained open, with the National Park Service planning to complete an environmental impact statement to determine how to manage the breach in the future.

Reports indicated that 80 percent of the homes on the island were flooded and 90 homes were completely destroyed. The storm also tore away about 75 feet of the dune coastline. Most of the 4,500 homes on the island were still intact, although damaged by floodwaters; officials credited the dune replenishment program with helping to spare the island.

Except for the western 4 1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) of the island, the island is protected as part of Fire Island National Seashore. Robert Moses State Park, occupying the remaining western portion of the island, is one of the popular recreational destinations in the New York City area. The Fire Island Lighthouse stands just east of Robert Moses State Park.

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