In September 1951 , the U.S. Air Force 626th Airborne Control and Warning Squadron was established on the island at a base on its southern end called '' ' Fire Island Air Force Station ' '' . Staffed by about 200 personnel , the base was an air defense radar center and Nike surface-to-air missile site for NORAD , doubling as a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control radar and communications site . Since the island is not connected to the mainland , all supplies came by helicopter from Elmendorf Air Force Base and , during summer , by barge from Anchorage . A runway was built during the first years of the base 's existence ; however , during the 1964 Alaska earthquake – one of the largest in recorded history – the airfield subsided into the ocean , leaving helicopter as the only way of reaching the island by air
1964 Alaska earthquake
1964 Alaska earthquake
Fire Island (Anchorage, Alaska)