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((Short description|Island in New York))
((other uses))
((Use American English|date=October 2020))
((Use mdy dates|date=June 2023))
[[File:Fire Island-NY-USA-Location Map-01.svg|thumb|Fire Island parallels the [[South Shore (Long Island)|South Shore]] of [[Long Island]].]]
'''Fire Island''' is the large center island of the [[Outer barrier|outer barrier island]]s parallel to the [[South Shore (Long Island)|South Shore]] of [[Long Island]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New York (state)|New York]].

Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also [[Long Beach Barrier Island]], [[Jones Beach Island]], and [[Westhampton Island]], since the straits that separate these islands are [[Ephemerality#Geographical features|ephemeral]]. In 2012, [[Hurricane Sandy]] once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two islands are about ((convert|31|mi)) long and vary between ((convert|160|and|400|m|disp=flip)) wide. The land area of Fire Island is ((convert|24.9|km2|disp=flip)).<ref name="Census area">Consisting of the Fire Island CDP plus the villages of [[Saltaire, New York|Saltaire]] and [[Ocean Beach, New York|Ocean Beach]]: ((cite web|title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fire Island CDP, New York|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3625839|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212193646/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3625839|archive-date=February 12, 2020|access-date=December 28, 2012|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder))((cite web|title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Saltaire village, New York|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3664881|access-date=December 28, 2012|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder))((dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020))((cbignore|bot=medic))((cite web|title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Ocean Beach village, New York|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3654430|access-date=December 28, 2012|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder))((dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020))((cbignore|bot=medic))</ref>

Fire Island is part of [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]]. It lies within the towns of [[Babylon, New York|Babylon]], [[Islip, New York|Islip]], and [[Brookhaven, New York|Brookhaven]], containing two [[Village (New York)|villages]] and several [[Hamlet (New York)|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|2010 census]],<ref name="Census 2010">((cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3625839| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212193646/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US3625839| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fire Island CDP, New York| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=December 28, 2012))</ref> though that expands to thousands of residents and tourists during the summer. Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines are known as [[gay tourism|gay-friendly]] tourist destinations.<ref name=FireIslandGayborhood>((cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/16/travel/queer-travel-new-hope-lgbtq-friendly.html?searchResultPosition=3|title=Searching for a Gay Getaway (Not Fire Island)|author=Erik Piepenburg|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 17, 2022|access-date=June 7, 2023))</ref>

==History==
[[File:FireIslandLighthouse 080507.jpg|thumb|[[Fire Island Lighthouse]], east of Robert Moses field 5]]

===Etymology===
The origin of Fire Island's name is uncertain. It is believed its Native American name was ((lang|und-Latn|Sictem Hackey)) ("Land of the Secatogues"). The [[Secatogue]]s were a tribe in the area of the current [[Town (New York)|town]] of [[Islip, New York|Islip]]. It was part of what was also called the "Seal Islands".<ref>Edwards, C. (1935). ''A History of Early Sayville'', Sayville, N.Y.: Suffolk County News Press</ref>

The name of Fire Island first appeared on a deed in 1789.<ref name="nps">[http://www.nps.gov/fiis/historyculture/fireislandorigin.htm National Park Service history]. Retrieved November 2, 2007.</ref>

Historian Richard Bayles suggests that the name derives from a misinterpretation or corruption of the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word ((lang|nl|vijf)) ("five"), or in another version ((lang|nl|vier)) ("four"), referring to the number of islands near the Fire Island inlet,<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.fairharbor.com/history_fi_first_contact.htm |title=history - Retrieved 2007-11-02 |publisher=Fairharbor.com |date=January 23, 2005 |access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref> a view echoed by [[Robert Caro]], who suggests in ''[[The Power Broker]]'' that the island was named to reflect four inlets that have since disappeared.<ref>((cite book |last= Caro|first= Robert |date=1974 |title= ''The Power Broker'' |location= New York |publisher= Vintage Books |page= 160))</ref> 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. Another version says that coastal guards, looking out for ships during WW2, lit fires as a signal when they ran out of supplies so that they could get more delivered from the mainland. 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.<ref name="thompson" />

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.<ref name="nps" />

===Settlement===
[[File:Fire island seashore with flags.jpg|thumb|The Fire Island National Seashore during Spring]]

Indigenous Native Americans lived on [[Long Island]] and Fire Island for many centuries before Europeans arrived. There exists a myth that the islands were occupied by "thirteen tribes" "neatly divided into thirteen tribal units, beginning with the [[Canarsee|Canarsie]] who lived in present-day [[Brooklyn]] and ending with the [[Montaukett|Montauk]] on the far eastern end of the island."((cn|date=November 2022)) But modern [[ethnographic]] research indicates that before the European invasion, Long Island and Fire Island were occupied by "indigenous groups [...] organized into village systems with varying levels of social complexity. They lived in small communities that were connected in an intricate web of kinship relations [...] there were probably no native peoples living in tribal systems on Long Island until after the Europeans arrived. [...] The communities appear to have been divided into two general culture areas that overlapped in the area known today as the [[Hempstead Plains]] [...]. The western groups spoke the [[Delaware languages|Delaware]]-[[Munsee language|Munsee]] dialect of [[Eastern Algonquian|Algonquian]] and shared cultural characteristics such as the [[Longhouses of the indigenous peoples of North America|longhouse]] system of social organization with their brethren in what is now New Jersey and Delaware. The linguistic affiliation of the eastern groups is less well understood [...] Goddard [...] concluded that the languages here are related to the southern [[New England]] Algonquian dialects, but he could only speculate on the nature of these relationships [...]. Working with a few brief vocabulary lists of Montauk and [[Unkechaug Nation|Unquachog]], he suggested that the Montauk might be related to [[Mohegan-Pequot]] and the Unquachog might possibly be grouped with the [[Quiripi]] of western Connecticut. The information on the [[Shinnecock Indian Nation|Shinnecock]] was too sparse for any determination [...] The most common pattern of indigenous life on Long Island prior to the intervention of the whites was the autonomous village linked by kinship to its neighbors."<ref name="Strong43-46">((cite book |last=Strong |first=John |title=The Thirteen Tribes of Long Island: The History of a Myth |url=http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org:80/review/pdfs/hvrr_9pt2_strong.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214135350/http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/review/pdfs/hvrr_9pt2_strong.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 14, 2019 |publisher=Hudson Valley Regional Review |pages=43–46 |access-date=August 22, 2020 ))</ref>

"Most of the 'tribal' names with which we are now familiar do not appear to have been recognized by either the first European observers or by the original inhabitants until the process of land purchases began after the first settlements were established. We simply do not know what these people called themselves, but all the ethnographic data on North American Indian cultures suggest that they identified themselves in terms of lineage and clan membership. [...] The English and Dutch were frustrated by this lack of structure because it made land purchase so difficult. Deeds, according to the European concept of property, had to be signed by identifiable owners with authority to sell and have specific boundaries on a map. The relatively amorphous leadership structure of the Long Island communities, the imprecise delineation of hunting ground boundaries, and their view of the land as a living entity to be used rather than owned made conventional European real estate deals nearly impossible to negotiate. The surviving primary records suggest that the Dutch and English remedied this situation by pressing cooperative local sachems to establish a more structured political base in their communities and to define their communities as "tribes" with specific boundaries [...] The Montauk, under the leadership of [[Wyandanch]] in the mid-seventeenth century, and the [[Matinecock (tribe)|Matinnecock]], under the sachems [[Suscaneman]] and [[Tackapousha]], do appear to have developed rather tenuous coalitions as a result of their contact with the English settlers."<ref name="Strong43-46"/>

"An early example of [European] intervention into Native American political institutions is a 1664 agreement wherein the [[East Hampton (town), New York|East Hampton]] and [[Southampton, New York|Southampton]] officials appointed a sunk squaw named [[Quashawam]] to govern both the Shinnecock and the Montauk."<ref name="Strong43-46" />
* [[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]]. "On May 25, 1691 Col. William "Tangier" Smith purchased from the Indian, John Mayhew the enormous acreage, later to be known as the Manor of St. George. He then set aside 175 acres of the land occupied by the [[Unkechaug]] Indians on the west side of the [[Forge River (New York)|Mastic (Forge) River]] at Poosepatuck Creek to be theirs for the annual rent of two ears of corn. The [[Poospatuck Reservation|Poosepatuck Indian Reservation]] is still in existence today, however it has shrunk to 55 acres due to unscrupulous land dealings by early officials."<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us:80/libraries/cmor/illushis.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129143440/http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us/libraries/cmor/illushis.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2011 |title=Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area |last1=Field |first1=Van |last2=Field |first2=Mary |website=The Center Moriches Free Public Library |access-date=March 20, 2020 |quote=The Indian, John Mayhew must have been a real entrepreneur. He seems to have taken an English name and proceeded to trade land with the settlers. Later, after observing the settlers buying and selling land, he obtained a grant for his land from Governor Dongan and permission to sell half of it. ))</ref>
* The first large house was built in 1795 in Cherry Grove by Jeremiah Smith. Smith was said to have lured ships to their doom and killed the crews.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist0071,0,3443983.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106171938/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historytown-hist0071,0,3443983.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 6, 2008 |title=Fire Island: From Pirates to Slavery to Fun in the Sun |last=Morris |first=Tom |date=January 6, 2008 |website=newsday.com |publisher=Newsday, Inc. |access-date= March 20, 2020|quote=Pirate activities on the Fire Island coast are well documented, and legends are legion.))</ref><ref>[[Christine Stansell|Stansell, Christine]]. ''The New Republic.'' March 26, 2008. From an article on the life of [[Margaret Fuller]], who died 1850 in a shipwreck at Fire Island: "The Fire Islanders of the day were a nasty group, who lived off pickings from shipwrecks that washed up on the beach, and they had no use for rescue efforts. So although the boat was in clear sight of the shore, no one acted while there was time. The family spent the night with other desperate passengers huddled on the disintegrating ship."</ref>
* In the early 19th century when [[slavery in New York]] was still legal, slave runners built stockades on the island by the Fire Island Inlet.
* The first Fire Island Lighthouse was built in 1825 and was replaced by the current lighthouse in 1858.
* In 1855, David S. S. Sammis bought ((convert|120|acre|km2)) near the Fire Island Lighthouse and built the Surf Hotel at what today is Kismet. Sammis operated the hotel until 1892, when the state took it over. In 1908, it became the first state park on Long Island.
* In 1868, Archer and Elizabeth Perkinson bought the land around Cherry Grove and [[Fire Island Pines]]. They built a hotel in 1880.
* In 1887, the [[United States Life-Saving Service|Life-Saving Service]] established 11 staffed lifesaving stations on the island.
* In 1892, troops were called out to suppress a potential riot at Democrat Point over a cholera panic.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past711,0,5538679.story?coll=ny-lihistory- |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050427174759/http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-past711,0,5538679.story?coll=ny-lihistory- |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 27, 2005 |title=The 1892 Cholera Panic |last=DeWan |first=George |date=April 27, 2005 |website=newsday.com |publisher=Newsday, Inc. |access-date= March 20, 2020 |quote= Islip officials and townspeople try to stop a quarantine of ship passengers on Fire Island ))</ref>
* In 1908, Ocean Beach was established, followed by Saltaire in 1910.
* In 1921, the Perkinsons sold the land around Cherry Grove in small lots. Bungalows from the newly closed [[Camp Upton]] in [[Yaphank, New York|Yaphank]] were ferried over the Great South Bay to build the new community. [[Duffy's Hotel]] was built in 1930.
* The [[Great Hurricane of 1938]] devastated much of the island and made it appear undesirable to many. However, Duffy's Hotel remained relatively undamaged. According to legend, the [[gay]] population began to concentrate in Cherry Grove at Duffy's Hotel with [[Christopher Isherwood]] and [[W. H. Auden]] dressed as [[Dionysus]] and [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]] and carried aloft on a gilded [[litter (vehicle)|litter]] by a group of singing followers.<ref>((Cite book |title=Cherry Grove Fire Island |first=Esther |last=Newton |year=1995|publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0-8070-7927-0))</ref> The gay influence was continued in the 1960s when male model [[John B. Whyte]] developed [[Fire Island Pines, New York|Fire Island Pines]]. The Pines currently has some of the most expensive property on the island and accounts for two-thirds of the island's swimming pools.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.fireislandcc.org/fipines.html |title=Fire Island Pines Chamber of Commerce - Retrieved 2007-10-31 |publisher=Fireislandcc.org |access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref>
* In 1964, [[Robert Moses]] built the [[Captree Causeway]] to the western end of the island.<ref>((cite web|title=Robert Moses Causeway Historic Overview|url=http://www.nycroads.com/roads/robert-moses/|publisher=Eastern Roads|access-date=March 28, 2011|quote=This final link of the Robert Moses Causeway opened in 1964.))</ref> Opponents, fearing that this was the beginning of plans for the continuation of [[Ocean Parkway (Long Island)|Ocean Parkway]], which would have run down the middle of the island, organized and eventually stopped the parkway.
* In September 1964, [[Lyndon Johnson]] signed a bill creating [[Fire Island National Seashore]].

===As gay village===
When artistic bohème of New York started frequenting Fire Island during the [[Jazz Age]], [[Ocean Beach, New York|Ocean Beach]] became the first [[gay village]] of the island.<ref name="jiler">((Cite book |last=Jiler |first=John |title=Dark wind: a true account of hurricane Gloria's assault on Fire Island |date=1993 |publisher=St Martin's press |isbn=978-0-312-09311-2 |location=New York |pages=28–31 |author-link=John Jiler))</ref> This caused tensions between the gay (often famous) tourists and locals, which peaked when [[Antoine de Paris]] built on his land an outdoor toilet with revealing saloon door right across the street from a Catholic church. The villagers arranged a provocation by choosing a teenage boy to "seduce" one of Antoine's guests, and after catching the guest ''in flagranti'', they burned down Antoine's property.<ref name="jiler" /> After the [[Great Hurricane of 1938]] devastated the island and made the Cherry Grove middle class move to Saltaire, the gay community settled in the Cherry Grove.<ref name="jiler2">((Cite book |last=Jiler |first=John |title=Dark wind: a true account of hurricane Gloria's assault on Fire Island |date=1993 |publisher=St Martin's press |isbn=978-0-312-09311-2 |location=New York |pages=46–48))</ref>

By 1950s, Cherry Grove, together with [[Fire Island Pines]], has been well known as a gay village, with a "Meat Rack" area of [[cruising for sex]].<ref name="FIPHSmeatrack">((cite web | title=The Meat Rack Est. 1950's. | website=Fire Island Pines Historical Society | date=March 3, 2021 | url=https://www.pineshistory.org/the-archives/the-meat-rack-est-1950s | access-date=June 6, 2022))</ref> The party-filled culture of the pre-[[HIV/AIDS]] 1970s is portrayed in [[Andrew Holleran]]'s 1978 novel ''[[Dancer from the Dance]]''. The Botel (today the Grove Hotel) was gay-friendly and ran popular [[Tea dance (gay event)|afternoon "tea dances"]]. Cherry Grove calls itself "America's First Gay and Lesbian Town". Fire Island has "an iconic gay scene"<ref>((cite web|title=Gay Fire Island|url=https://www.travelgay.com/destination/gay-usa/gay-new-york/gay-fire-island/|accessdate=May 3, 2021|publisher=[[TravelGay.com]]))</ref> and the Grove Hotel is New York State's only hotel that prohibits those under 21 on the premises; this is legal because the hotel's entrance is through a bar.<ref>((cite web|title=A Fire Island Staple|work=Grove Hotel|url=https://www.grovehotel.com/icepalace|accessdate=May 1, 2021))</ref>

=== 2009: Beach renourishment ===
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 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, New York|Ocean Beach]], [[Saltaire, New York|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 ((convert|1800000|yd3|disp=flip|sp=us|abbr=off)) 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.

===2012: Hurricane Sandy===
The island was heavily damaged by the high tides associated with [[Hurricane Sandy]] in 2012, including three breaches around Smith Point County Park on the sparsely populated eastern end of the island. The biggest breach, and politically the most difficult one to deal with because it is in a wilderness area, is at [[Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness#Old Inlet breach|Old Inlet]] in the [[Otis Pike Wilderness Area]] just west of [[Smith Point County Park]]. Old Inlet is at the site of previous breaches (which have come and gone on their own) and was 108 feet wide after the storm on the south end and 1,171 feet on February 28, 2013.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/fiis/naturescience/post-hurricane-sandy-breaches.htm |title=Post-Hurricane Sandy: Old Inlet Breach on Fire Island - Fire Island National Seashore |publisher=Nps.gov |access-date=April 6, 2013))</ref> Officials have been debating whether to close the breach and let nature take its course, as it has been flushing out the Great South Bay and improving water quality. But residents of the bayfront communities noted increased flooding after the storm. This was later found to be the result of several nor'easters and unrelated to the breaches.<ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/superstorm-sandy-s-fire-island-breaches-not-to-blame-for-coastal-flooding-usgs-says-1.8236999|title = Study: FI breaches not to blame for flooding| date=May 29, 2014 ))</ref> As of 2018, the breach remained open.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-unexpected-upsides-of-the-hole-in-fire-island/|title = The Unexpected Upsides of the Hole in Fire Island))</ref> Officials have moved to close the other two breaches, which are on either side of [[Moriches Inlet]]—one in Cupsogue County Park and the other in Smith Point County Park.<ref>((cite web|author=Timothy Bolger (302 Posts) |url=http://www.longislandpress.com/2013/03/14/fire-island-breach-needs-closure-bellone-says/ |title=Fire Island Breach Needs to be Closed, Bellone Says |publisher=Long Island Press |date=March 14, 2013 |access-date=April 6, 2013))</ref><ref>((cite web|url=http://www.fireisland.com/about-fire-island/fire-island-sandy-2012-breach-at-old-inlet/ |title=Fire Island Cut in Two! Breach at the Old Inlet Sandy 2012 |date=November 5, 2012 |publisher=Fireisland.com |access-date=April 6, 2013))</ref><ref>((cite news |title=Breach Through Fire Island Also Divides Opinions |author=Lisa W. Foderaro |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/nyregion/at-fire-island-officials-weigh-filling-a-breach.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 6, 2013 |page=A13 |access-date=July 30, 2013 ))</ref>

Reports indicated that 80 percent of the homes, particularly those on the east end, were flooded, and 90 homes were completely destroyed.<ref>((cite web|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/14/residents-return-to-fire-island-where-the-protective-dunes-are-no-more/ |title=Residents Return To Fire Island, Where The Protective Dunes Are No More « CBS New York |publisher=Newyork.cbslocal.com |date=November 14, 2012 |access-date=April 6, 2013))</ref> The storm also tore away about 75 feet of the dune coastline. But Fire Island was not hit as hard as other areas, with most of the 4,500 homes on the island surviving even if damaged, and significant home reconstruction has taken place. Officials credited the dune replenishment program with helping to spare the island.<ref>((cite news |title=After Saving Fire Island, Line of Defense Is Lost to the Sea |author=Lisa W. Foderaro |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/nyregion/fire-island-is-relieved-but-more-vulnerable-after-hurricane-sandy.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 20, 2012 |page=A18 |access-date=July 30, 2013 ))</ref>

==Geography==
{| style="float:right; text-align:center; background:transparent;"
| ((Location mark+
| width = 310
| image = Fire-island-map.jpg
| caption =
| float = center | type = | marks =
((Location mark label | x%=19.5 | y%=23.0
  | label = <b style="letter-spacing:1.25em; white-space:nowrap;">Long Island</b>
))
((Location mark label | x%=12.0 | y%=54.5 | color=#0099EE
  | label = <b style="word-spacing:1.25em; letter-spacing:0.125em; white-space:nowrap;">Great South Bay</b>))
((Location mark label | x%=16.0 | y%=82.0 | color=darkorange | size=110
  | label = <b style="letter-spacing:1.25em;">Fire</b>))
((Location mark label | x%=49.0 | y%=72.0 | color=darkorange | size=50
  | label = <b style="letter-spacing:1.25em;">Island</b>))
))
|-
| ((midsize|Map of Fire Island National Seashore))
|}
Fire Island lies on average ((convert|6.2|km|disp=flip)) off the South Shore of Long Island, but nearly touches it along the [[East End (Long Island)|East End]]. It is separated from Long Island by the [[Great South Bay]], which spans interconnected bays along Long Island: [[Patchogue Bay]], [[Bellport Bay]], [[Narrow Bay]], and [[Moriches Bay]].

The island and its resort communities are accessible by boat, seaplane, and a number of [[ferry|ferries]], which run across the bay from [[Patchogue, New York|Patchogue]], [[Bay Shore, New York|Bay Shore]], and [[Sayville, New York|Sayville]], to more than 10 points on the island.

The island is accessible by automobile near each end: via [[Robert Moses Causeway]] on its western end, and by William Floyd Parkway ([[County Route 46 (Suffolk County, New York)|Suffolk County Road 46]]) near its eastern end. 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.

Fire Island is located at 40°39′35″ north, 73°5′23″ west (((coord|40.653|-73.126|type:isle_region:US-NY|display=inline,title))).<ref name="GR1">((cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990))</ref> According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], it has a land area of ((convert|24.9|sqkm|disp=flip)).<ref name="Census area" />

In 1834, [[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]], a Swiss-American [[Surveying|surveyor]], measured at Fire Island the first [[Baseline (surveying)|baseline]] of the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey|Survey of the Coast]], shortly before [[Louis Puissant]] declared to the [[French Academy of Sciences]] in 1836 that [[Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre]] and [[Pierre Méchain]] had made errors in the [[Arc measurement|meridian arc measurement]], which had been used to determine the length of the [[metre]].<ref>((Cite book |last1=Hassler |first1=Harriet |url=http://archive.org/details/ferdinandrudolph1068hass |title=Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler (1770-1843) |last2=Burroughs |first2=Charles A. |date=2007 |others=NIST Research Library |pages=51–52))</ref><ref>((Cite book |last=Lebon |first=Ernest (1846-1922) Auteur du texte |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k949666 |title=Histoire abrégée de l'astronomie / par Ernest Lebon,... |date=1899 |pages=168 |language=EN))</ref> 

===Historical modifications===
The island's physical attributes have changed over time, and continue to change. At one point it stretched more than ((convert|60|mi|km)) from [[Jones Beach Island]] to [[Southampton (village), New York|Southampton]].

Around 1683, [[Fire Island Inlet]] broke through, separating it from Jones Beach Island.<ref name="thompson">Thompson, B. F. (1839). ''History of Long Island; containing an account of the discovery and settlement; with other important and interesting matters to the present time''. New York, E. French.</ref>

The Fire Island Inlet grew to ((convert|9|mi|0)) in width before receding. The [[Fire Island Light]]house 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 ((convert|6|mi|0)) from the inlet.

Fire Island separated from Southampton in a 1931 [[Nor'easter]] when [[Moriches Inlet]] broke through. The inlet widened on September 21, 1938. Moriches Inlet and efforts by local communities east of Fire Island to protect their beachfront with [[groyne|jetties]] have led to an interruption in the [[longshore drift]] of sand going from east to west and are blamed for erosion of the Fire Island beachfront.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/geological_impact.html |title=The Great Hurricane of 1938 - Geological Impact |publisher=.sunysuffolk.edu |date=December 12, 1992 |access-date=September 23, 2010 |archive-date=August 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829154754/http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/geological_impact.html |url-status=dead ))</ref> 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.

==Landmarks and preserves==
((Wide image|FI Lighthouse pan.jpg|1024px|[[Panorama]] of Fire Island from the top of the [[Fire Island Light]] (distorted view)))
Except for the western ((convert|4+1/2|mi|km)) of the island, the island is protected as part of [[Fire Island National Seashore]]. [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|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 Light]] stands just east of Robert Moses State Park.

A memorial to [[TWA Flight 800|TWA 800]], dedicated in June 2002, is on the eastern end, at [[Smith Point County Park]], near where the airplane crashed at sea.<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/flight-800-memorial.htm "Flight 800 International Memorial"], [[National Park Service]]. Accessed December 31, 2020. "The TWA Flight 800 International Memorial, located near the Atlantic Ocean in Smith Point County Park, was dedicated on July 14, 2002."</ref>

==Locations==
Towns are listed below from west to east, communities within each town are listed alphabetically.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/fiis/planyourvisit/upload/FIIS_Map2_5-2006.pdf |title=Official NPS Map - Retrieved 2007-11-02 |access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref>

===Town of Babylon===
* [[Fire Island Inlet]]
* [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|Robert Moses State Park]] (part)

===Town of Islip===
[[File:Peter Rickmers - StateLibQld 70 142968.jpg|thumb|German [[full-rigged ship]] ''Peter Rickmers'' aground on Fire Island, April 30, 1908]]
* [[Atlantique, New York|Atlantique]]
* [[Corneille Estates, New York|Corneille Estates]]
* [[Dunewood, New York|Dunewood]]
* [[Fair Harbor, New York|Fair Harbor]]
* [[Fire Island Light]]
* [[Fire Island Summer Club]]
* [[Kismet, New York|Kismet]]
* [[Lonelyville, New York|Lonelyville]]
* [[Ocean Beach, New York|Ocean Beach]] (village)
* [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|Robert Moses State Park]] (park)
* [[Robbins Rest, New York|Robbins Rest]]
* [[Saltaire, New York|Saltaire]] (village)
* [[Seabay Beach, New York|Seabay Beach]]
* [[Seaview, New York|Seaview]]

===Town of Brookhaven===
[[File:Glückauf.jpg|thumb|The world's first true [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]], the ''[[Glückauf (1886)|Glückauf]]'', stranded on March 23/24, 1893 in heavy fog at [[Blue Point Beach]] on Fire Island]]
* [[Bellport Beach, New York|Bellport Beach]]
* [[Blue Point Beach, New York|Blue Point Beach]]
* [[Cherry Grove, New York|Cherry Grove]]
* [[Davis Park, New York|Davis Park/Ocean Ridge]]
* [[Fire Island Pines, New York|Fire Island Pines]]
* [[Moriches Inlet]]
* [[Oakleyville, New York|Oakleyville]]
* [[Ocean Bay Park, New York|Ocean Bay Park]]
* [[Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness]]
* [[Point O' Woods, New York|Point O'Woods]]
* [[Smith Point County Park]]
* [[Sunken Forest (Fire Island)|Sunken Forest]]
* [[Talisman/Barrett Beach, New York|Talisman/Barrett Beach]]
* [[Watch Hill, New York|Watch Hill]], National Park Service facility in the central part of the island, including a public marina, camp ground visitor center, and nature trail
* [[Water Island, New York|Water Island]]

===Small islands in the vicinity===
The following are associated islands in the Fire Island National Seashore Jurisdiction, from west to east:
* [[Sexton Island]], a small island across from the Fire Island Lighthouse with approximately 20 small, private, summer houses. There is no ferry service or electrical service.
* [[West Fire Island]], a small island with about a dozen houses. It has no telephone or electrical service.
* [[H. B. Hollins#Hollins Island|East Fire Island]], another longer and larger island next to West Fire Island. East Fire Island, unlike West Fire Island, is uninhabited. People are allowed, although there is no ferry service and the only way to get there is on your own boat.
* Ridge Island
* [[Pelican Island (New York)|Pelican Island]]
* [[John Boyle Island]]
* [[Hospital Island (New York)|Hospital Island]]

===Other locations===
* [[Clam Pond]], a small cove between Saltaire and Fair Harbor

==Inhabitants==
((More citations needed|section|date=August 2014))
Fire Island's population varies seasonally. There are few residents in winter months, with the population rising in the late spring to early fall.

Housing is mostly [[stick style|stick-built]] [[bungalow]]-style with generous helpings of [[bamboo]]. Some are beachfront, built on the dunes of the [[Atlantic Ocean]], while others are on boardwalks or concrete walks, like a miniaturized city. For year-round residents, there are schools, churches, shops and even a school bus service to the mainland of Long Island via an off-road modified school bus.

The quiet villages on Fire Island provide solitude, while the larger towns provide a more social atmosphere with clubs, bars and open air dining. Two of these, [[Fire Island Pines, New York|Fire Island Pines]] and [[Cherry Grove, New York|Cherry Grove]], are destinations for [[LGBT]] vacationers.

The incorporated villages of Ocean Beach and [[Saltaire, New York|Saltaire]] within Fire Island National Seashore are [[auto-free zone|car-free]] during the summer tourist season ([[Memorial Day]] through [[Labor Day]]) and permit only pedestrian and bicycle traffic (during certain hours only in Ocean Beach). For off-season use, there are a limited number of driving permits for year-round residents and contractors. The hamlet of [[Davis Park, New York|Davis Park]] allows no vehicles or bicycles year-round.

In 1992 Diane Ketcham of ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that due to the lack of retail, entertainment, and television options, especially in the winter, area children often felt bored and therefore felt excited to attend school.<ref name=Ketcham>((cite web|last=Ketcham|first=Diane|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/16/nyregion/about-long-island-going-to-school-on-fire-island-in-dead-of-winter.html|title=ABOUT LONG ISLAND; Going to School on Fire Island in Dead of Winter|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 16, 1992|accessdate=May 3, 2021))</ref>

===Demographics===
As of the [[2000 United States Census]],<ref name="GR2">((cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website))</ref> 491 people, 138 households, and 77 families resided on Fire Island. The [[population density]] was 52.82/mi<sup>2</sup> (21.82/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 4,153 housing units, at an average density of 478.1/mi<sup>2</sup> (184.6/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the town was 96.77% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.65% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.32% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.65% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.61% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.90% of the population.

There were 138 households on Fire Island, out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 2.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.90.

Fire Island's population was spread out, with 20.6% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 33.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 133.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 143.6 males.

The median income for a household on Fire Island was $73,281, and the median income for a family was $83,672. Males had a median income of $46,875 versus $41,429 for females. The per capita income for Fire Island was $43,681. 0.0% of families and 3.1% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 0.0% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

===Famous summer residents===
After the Manhattan theater community began staying on Fire Island during the 1920s, the island had numerous summer celebrity residents.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/hit-the-beach-july-2003/1 |title=Nadelson, Reggie. "Travel + Leisure", "Hit the Beach in Fire Island," July 2003 |publisher=Travelandleisure.com |access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref>
* [[Gary Beach]], Tony award-winning actor<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/96374.html |title=Playbill |publisher=Playbill.com |date=November 20, 2005 |access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref>
* [[Fanny Brice]], actress, whose house in Ocean Beach is home to the OB Youth Group
* [[Mel Brooks]] wrote, with Carl Reiner, the "2000 Year Old Man" in their home on the beach.<ref>Blumenthal, Ralph. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/29/archives/barefoot-baedekers-guide-to-enclaves-on-fire-island-a-barefoot.html "Barefoot Baedeker's Guide To Enclaves on Fire Island"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 29, 1971. Accessed December 31, 2020. "Lonelyville — despite its name— is a livelier community, where Mel Brooks and his wife, Anne Bancroft, keep a sprawling beach‐house."</ref>
* [[James Kenneth Campbell]], lawyer and longtime [[Saltaire, New York|Saltaire]] Village Justice<ref>((Cite web|title=Paid Notice: Deaths CAMPBELL, J. KENNETH (KEN), SR. |work=[[New York Times]] |date=April 1, 2004 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/01/classified/paid-notice-deaths-campbell-j-kenneth-ken-sr.html |access-date=April 14, 2023))</ref>
* [[Barbara Corcoran]], investor, TV personality<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151147028598430&set=a.10150097304798430.279623.774938429&type=1&theater |title=Barbara Corcoran's Photos |publisher=Facebook |access-date=October 17, 2012))</ref>
* [[Tina Fey]], creator of ''30 Rock'', stays during the summer at Fair Harbor and Ocean Beach((Citation needed|date=April 2012))
* [[Henry Fonda]], actor, built a summer home in the Pines.((Citation needed|date=April 2012))
* [[Wolcott Gibbs]], theater critic of ''[[The New Yorker]]''
* [[Samuel Adams Green]], art dealer<ref>Scottish Daily Record & Sam Green, [https://www.thefreelibrary.com/My+darling+Garbo+was+no+lesbian.-a061584473 My Darling Garbo Was No Lesbian!], ''[[Scottish Daily Record]]'', April 20, 2000, accessed July 4, 2021</ref>
* [[Joseph Heller]]
* [[Ring Lardner, Jr.]]
* [[John Lennon]], of the Beatles; the piano he shipped to the island is currently at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio
* [[Joan McCracken]], dancer, who spent much of her final years there
* [[Kevin Nash]], professional wrestler
* [[Christopher Noth]], known for his acting in ''Sex and the City'' and ''Law and Order'', stays in Ocean Beach in the summer((Citation needed|date=April 2012))
* [[Frank O'Hara]], writer, poet, art critic, curator at Museum of Modern Art; died after being struck by a dune buggy on Fire Island.<ref>((cite news |title=FRANK O'HARA, 40, MUSEUM CURATOR; Exhibitions Aide at Modern Art Dies--Also a Poet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/07/26/archives/frank-ohara-40-museum-curator-exhibitions-aide-at-modern-art.html |access-date=June 6, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=July 26, 1966 |page=35))</ref>
* [[Carl Reiner]], writer, completed the first season of ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' scripts while living on Fire Island
* [[Lea Thompson]], ''[[Back to the Future]]'' star, and her director husband [[Howard Deutch]]
* [[Herman Wouk]], writer, responsible for the construction of the Fire Island Synagogue in Seaview<ref>Chana, Jas. [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/herman-wouks-fire-island-synagogue "Herman Wouk’s Fire Island Synagogue The centenarian author formed an Orthodox congregation in his home in 1952. It thrives today."], ''[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]]'', May 28, 2015. Accessed December 31, 2020. "Did you know that Herman Wouk, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny who turned 100 yesterday, founded an Orthodox synagogue during the 1950s in a laid-back, Fire Island beach community?"</ref>

==Emergency services==
Fire Island's unique location and constantly changing geography play a major role in the protection of its citizens. Although it is served by ten fire departments and two police departments,<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.fordyce.org/scanning/scanning_info/scfcodes.htm#A3 |title=Suffolk County F.D. & E.M. S. Radio Codes & Information |work=Fordyce.org |access-date=April 18, 2012))</ref> the seasonal residency and remote driving distance are a challenge to the public safety community. Because there are no roads on inhabited Fire Island, fire department vehicles are heavily modified [[four-wheel drive]] with [[suspension lift]]s, large diameter off-road tires and recovery equipment, which allow them to traverse the sometimes washed-out, loose sand.

Until 1986, there was no ambulance service on Fire Island,<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.saltairefd.com/about |title=About SVFC - Saltaire Volunteer Fire Company |work=Saltairefd.com |access-date=April 18, 2012 |archive-date=February 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226012107/http://www.saltairefd.com/about |url-status=dead ))</ref> prompting the village of Saltaire to form its rescue company, later followed by Ocean Beach, and then in the 2000s with [[Fair Harbor, New York|Fair Harbor]].((Citation needed|date=April 2012)) Due to relatively close distances, fire departments on Fire Island are obliged to provide [[mutual aid (emergency services)|mutual aid]] to neighboring communities.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2011/11/15/fire-fire-island-pines-reportedly-destroys-pavilion-complex |title=A Fire in Fire Island Pines Reportedly Destroys Pavilion Complex &#124; Out Magazine |publisher=Out.com |date=November 15, 2011 |access-date=April 18, 2012))</ref> Some coastal fire departments on Long Island have fully equipped marine rescue and [[fireboat]] units which can cross the [[Great South Bay]] to provide necessary assistance.

Fire Island's corps of off-road-capable fire apparatus and the firefighters' training to use them effectively provide much-needed support in the event of a [[wildfire]],((Citation needed|date=April 2012)) as was illustrated in the [[Long Island Central Pine Barrens]] fires of 1995.((Citation needed|date=April 2012))

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, Southside Hospital, and Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center are located directly across the Great South Bay from Fire Island in the Long Island hamlets of [[West Islip, New York|West Islip]], [[Bay Shore, New York|Bay Shore]], and the village of [[Patchogue, New York|Patchogue]], respectively. A heliport for medevac helicopter use is adjacent to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center. Specially equipped boats provided by the [[Suffolk County Police Department]] Marine Bureau docked at the various communities on Fire Island provide emergency transportation to individuals in need of dire medical care. In many cases, Long Island based ambulances will meet the boats once they cross the Bay (roughly 4.5 miles) and then drive individuals the short distance to one of the three hospitals. Also, one emergency access road connects Long Island (West Islip) to Fire Island (Kismet). However, the road ends there and does not extend the full length of the island into the other communities.

The [[Suffolk County Police Department]] Marine Bureau is the primary law enforcement agency. [[Ocean Beach, New York|Ocean Beach]] also has its own dedicated police department.((Citation needed|date=April 2012)) Criminal proceedings are handled by Suffolk District Court, and arrestees go to the 3rd, 1st or 5th precinct, or to one of the [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County Sheriff's Office]] jails.((Citation needed|date=April 2012)) Small claims and property matters are usually handled by the individual village of case origin.((Citation needed|date=April 2012)) It is common practice for police to write tickets then send unruly visitors off the island via [[water taxi]], at the offender's expense.<ref>((cite web|author=Deirdre M Gurry |url=http://www.copiamagazine.com/citychick/cmcitychickfireisland.html |title=City Chick: Fire Island |work=Copia Magazine |access-date=April 18, 2012))</ref>

The [[Suffolk County Park Police]] and [[New York State Park Police]] patrol the [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|Robert Moses State Park]], while the [[National Park Service]] is stationed at the [[Fire Island Light]] and [[Fire Island National Seashore]].

The [[United States Coast Guard]] has a base on Fire Island and provides aerial and nautical patrols to the Fire Island National Seashore as well as all beaches in the area. One of the oldest Coast Guard stations in America, Station #25 has been in uninterrupted operation since 1849.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.uscg.mil/history/stations/FireIsland.pdf |title=Station Fire Island, New York |publisher=Uscg.mil |access-date=January 2, 2013))</ref>

==Education==
School districts that cover the island include:<ref>((cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st36_ny/schooldistrict_maps/c36103_suffolk/DC20SD_C36103.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Suffolk County, NY|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|pages=5–6|accessdate=May 2, 2021))</ref>
* [[Fire Island Union Free School District]]<!--21540, page 5--> which operates Woodhull School (PK-6)
** Students who graduate from Woodhull can choose to go to either the [[Bay Shore School District]] or the [[Islip School District]] for secondary levels.<ref name=Hist>((cite web|url=https://www.fi.k12.ny.us:443/district/history|title=History|publisher=[[Fire Island School District]]|accessdate=May 3, 2021))</ref> The respective high schools are [[Bay Shore High School]] and [[Islip High School]].
* [[William Floyd Union Free School District]]<!--18690, pages 5-6-->
* [[Center Moriches Union Free School District]]<!--06840-->
* [[East Moriches Union Free School District]]<!--09780-->
* (for [[West Hampton Dunes, New York|West Hampton Dunes]]) [[Remsenburg-Speonk Union Free School District]]<!--24420-->

==In popular culture==
((More citations needed section|date=October 2012))
* The 1955 novel ''[[Auntie Mame]]'' by [[Patrick Dennis]] uses a Fire Island reference to emphasize that the eponymous character keeps "queer" company.
* The August 1965 feature "[[Shel Silverstein]] on Fire Island" appeared in ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, with humorous quips about the [[gay]] club scene there.
* The 1969 film ''[[Last Summer (1969 film)|Last Summer]]'' by [[Frank Perry]], adapted by Eleanor Perry from the [[Evan Hunter]] novel about a summer of sexual discovery on Fire Island, brought an [[Academy Award|Oscar]] nomination for actress [[Catherine Burns]].
* The pioneering 1971 gay pornographic film ''[[Boys in the Sand]]'' by [[Wakefield Poole]] was filmed on Fire Island.
* American writer [[Patricia Nell Warren]] locates parts of her 1974 best-selling novel ''[[The Front Runner (novel)|The Front Runner]]'' on the Island, as well as parts of the 1994 sequel ''Harlan's Race''.
* The 1975 Brian Eno album ''[[Another Green World]]'' features the song "Over Fire Island".
* The [[Village People]] included a song titled "Fire Island" on their [[Village People (album)|1977 debut album]]; the song refers to the island as "a funky weekend" and mention several locations on the island such as the Ice Palace, the Monster, the Blue Whale, and the Sandpiper.
* [[Rob Halford]], lead singer of the [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Judas Priest]], sings about a visit to a leather bar on "New York's Fire Island" in the song "Raw Deal" on the 1977 release ''[[Sin After Sin]]''.
* The song "[[Come to Me (France Joli song)|Come to Me]]" has been described as "the definitive Fire Island dance classic" because of the legendary July 7, 1979, Fire Island concert performance by 16-year-old [[France Joli]] for an oceanfront audience of 5,000 (after [[Donna Summer]] cancelled at the last minute, Joli stepped in as a replacement and became an overnight sensation).<ref>Ferguson, Dean. "France Joli: Full Circle," ''DMA/Dance Music Authority'', Volume 4, Number 11, December 1996.</ref>
* The 1980 teen novel ''My First Love and Other Disasters'' by [[Francine Pascal]] takes place largely on Fire Island, where the protagonist, Victoria Martin, is working as a mother's helper. (Francine Pascal: Dell, 1980)
* Fire Island is the setting of the 1991 [[Terrence McNally]] play ''[[Lips Together, Teeth Apart]]''.
* The song "Pretty Deep" on the 1997 album ''[[Lovesongs for Underdogs]]'' by [[Tanya Donelly]] refers to a visit to Fire Island.
* Fire Island is repeatedly referenced on the [[NBC]] sitcom ''[[Will & Grace]]'', first broadcast in 1998.
* ''When Ocean Meets Sky'',<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.craytonrobeyproductions.com/|title=When Ocean Meets Sky|publisher=Craytonrobeyproductions.com|access-date=September 23, 2010|archive-date=January 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128102630/http://craytonrobeyproductions.com/|url-status=dead))</ref> a 2003 documentary detailing the 50-year history of the [[Fire Island Pines, New York|Fire Island Pines]] community, includes much previously unseen archival footage.
* The 2003 album ''[[Welcome Interstate Managers]]'' by [[Fountains of Wayne]] featured the song "Fire Island" about two siblings' home-alone shenanigans while their parents vacation on the island.
* The song "Gay Messiah" on the 2004 album ''[[Want Two]]'' by [[Rufus Wainwright]] makes a reference to the popularity of Fire Island for gay and [[lesbian]] tourists, remarking that when the "gay messiah" comes, "He will fall from the star / of [[Studio 54]] / and appear on the sand / of Fire Island's shore".
* Fire Island serves dual meanings as both a vacation destination and a [[homoeroticism|homoerotic]] euphemism in the 2004 book ''[[Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim]]'' by [[David Sedaris]].
* The [[mockumentary]] ''Beach Comber''<ref>((cite web|url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9087919924829576282&q=beach+comber|title=Beach Comber|access-date=September 23, 2010))</ref> was filmed on Fire Island in 2004.
* The 2006 [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] reality show ''[[One Ocean View]]'' was shot on Fire Island.
* Fire Island is featured prominently in the 2008 [[Ann Brashares]] novel ''[[The Last Summer (of You and Me)]]'', about two sisters and a friend who grow up together, vacationing on the island every summer.
* The 2019 mystery film ''[[Last Ferry (film)|Last Ferry]]'' features a gay tourist visiting the Fire Island in search of fun and adventure, who arrives during the off-season.
* The 2022 rom-com [[Fire Island (film)|''Fire Island'']] features a group of gay friends on a weeklong vacation to the locale.
* ''[[American Horror Story: NYC]]'' includes the locale during the series, featuring gay characters in 1981, with the particular "Fire Island" episode airing November 9, 2022.

==See also==
* [[Fire Island Inlet Bridge]]
* [[Jones Beach Island]]

==References==
((Reflist|30em))

==External links==
((Commons category))
* ((Wikivoyage-inline))
* [http://www.nps.gov/fiis Fire Island National Seashore]

((Fire Island))
((Long Island region))
((authority control))

[[Category:Babylon (town), New York]]
[[Category:Brookhaven, New York]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:National Seashores of the United States]]
[[Category:Fire Island, New York| ]]
[[Category:Islip (town), New York]]
[[Category:Beaches of Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Car-free islands of the United States]]
[[Category:Islands of Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Suffolk County, New York]]
[[Category:Barrier islands of New York (state)]]

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Template:Coord (view source) (protected)
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Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (articles) (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dead link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:FULLROOTPAGENAME (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fire Island (edit)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Fraction/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:If then show (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Location mark+ (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Location mark label (edit)
Template:Long Island region (edit)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Midsize (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:More citations needed section (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Template:Other uses (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Plainlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sister-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sister project (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sp (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Use American English (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Use mdy dates (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wide image (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikivoyage-inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikivoyage inline (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Convert (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Convert/text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Coordinates (view source) (protected)
Module:Coordinates/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Module:Exponential search (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Lang (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/ISO 639 synonyms (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Lang/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana languages (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana regions (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana suppressed scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Language/data/iana variants (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Math (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Other uses (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Side box/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Unicode data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unicode data/scripts (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wd/i18n (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wide image (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/nolinks (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/titleformats (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Island"