August 11
On Tuesday night, August 9th, the Village Hall was struck by lighting, leading to a fire that has destroyed left side of the Village Hall. Other part of the Village, although not consumed by the fire, are damaged by water or smoke, making the Village Hall inoperable and unsafe. Nassau County Fire Marshals have disconnected utilities to the Village Hall to prevent further fire or damage to electronics.

We are grateful to many Fire Departments that responded to the Village Hall fire, including our very own Alert Fire Company, Fire Chief and Deputies. There were multiple agencies form Nassau County, including Police Department, Fire Commissioner, Fire Marshalls, Office of Emergency Management, Arson and Bomb Squad detectives and Public Safety, that were on the scene, investigating the fire and ensuring safety of residents and neighbors. Thank you to the resident at 62 Baker Hill, who made the 911 call. Thank you for all your help in our time of need.

Here is what has been done and what you need to know:

• Village Sanitation is not effected by the fire.
• Samples has been sent to lab to test for asbestos. 
• After discussing the matter with Village Counsel, we have interviewed multiple Public Adjusters, taking into consideration many factors, including years of service, advise from professionals and recommendations from individuals and other municipalities served.
• Village insurance carrier has scheduled an inspection in the following days.
• Remediation work has began to stop further damage to the Village Hall. Carpets and wet walls and ceiling tiles are removed or will be removed in the following days.
• Village IT contractor has removed our IT infrastructure form the premise. The Village server is operable and no data has been lost. Employees computers not effected by fire are removed and setup in a secure location. All damaged computers (by fire, smoke or water) are inspected by the IT and any data on their local drives are recovered. Our phone system is moved to a secure location. Residents can call the Village Hall and after listening to a short message regard the fire, can dial the extension of employees, and employees should be able to assist, to the extend possible. Please remember that we are here to help, however, despite our best effort, we may not be able to resolve the issue in a timely manner, so please be be kind with employees. 
  
  Records in the Village Hall have smoke damage but can they can be remediated. We are in talk with NYS Department of Education, Archive Unit, as well as the State contractor to find the best solution for this issue.