Exploring Fire Island Lighthouse

FIRE ISLAND, Long Island (WABC) -- The Fire Island Lighthouse on the western tip of Fire Island, along the Great South Bay, has served as a navigational tool since 1826.

The original Lighthouse was much shorter about the height of a flagpole standing alongside the newer version. There's also the original Fresnel lens here on display,but if want to see the new lighthouse up close, it's only about a hundred 82 steps away.

If you have the time, it really is worth the climb. At 168 feet, this is the tallest Lighthouse in New York State and on a clear day, you can even see the Freedom Tower.

Employees at Bethpage Federal Credit Union commit 8,000 hours of volunteer service in Long Island Communities each year.

Christine Massucci is their Volunteer of the Year, doing everything from the Air Show to people's taxes.

"Christmas gifts. I have done Habitat for Humanity. I've done the Turkey Drive," Massucci said.

The Lighthouse technically has only 3 paid employees.

"The volunteers are extremely important to keep the Lighthouse alive, to engage the public, to welcome them, and to give them a little bit of the history, " Dave Griese, Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, said.

You can contact the Lighthouse Preservation Society if you wish to volunteer for a 4-hour shift. One hundred-40 people already do.

Learn more at www.fireislandlighthouse.com.