Fire broke out in the southwestern end of the Carrington Tract, the wooded area between Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, also known as the Meat Rack, shortly before 6 p.m. on August 7. Cherry Grove, Fire Island Pines, and other Fire Island Fire Departments’ firefighters battled the blaze and the Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau and Cherry Grove EMS responded as well. According to local fire fighters, the cause of the fire is not yet known.
In an August 8 email to Fire Island Q News, Cherry Grove Community Association President Diane Romano, asked about the fire, wrote, “I hate rumors ... but there is usually some thread of truth ... so, I am checking to see ... I was told that there was a sex video being filmed in the meat rack ... do you know if this has any shred of truth.....I certainly hope not...”
In an August 8 posting on the Sandy vs. Cherry Grove Facebook page, Cherry Grove Guys’ Mike Fisher wrote, “I heard HBO filmed a "Real Sex" segment in the meat rack. There have already been tickets handed out in the meat rack. Wait until that episode airs on HBO and the Parks Commission sees it. Our quiet community is soon going to be descended upon by police and park rangers.” It is not known if this has any connection with the fire.
In an unrelated Carrington Tract story this week, workers with the National Parks Service, of which Fire Island National Seashore is a part, began putting wooden snow fencing between the dunes and the beach between the Grove and the Pines, in a welcome effort to prevent visitors from illegally treading on the fragile dunes, particularly in areas where dunes were flattened by super storm Sandy, and to encourage them to use only the legal easternmost Grove and westernmost Pines wooden walkways to cross the dunes.