Firefighters Kept Busy During Snowstorm
The blizzard may have kept a lot of people inside, but emergency personnel, many of them volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians, didn't have the luxury of hunkering down over the weekend. Departments responded to fires, car accidents, diabetic and seizure calls, and even when the snow stopped, the calls did not. Late Sunday afternoon, rescuers were called to pull people out of a Jeep that partially sank into the water at a Bridgehampton beach while its occupants were surveying the snowstorm's damage.
A new Jeep Wrangler pickup truck plunged into an icy hole on Scott Cameron Beach, near the opening of Mecox Beach, stranding its driver, Joe Farrell of Bridgehampton, a prominent luxury house builder, and his son, Joey.
Johnathon Duran and his friend Brandon La Ponte were "checking out what the recent storm Jonas did to the beach and how the ocean looked afterwards," he said in an email Monday. They were standing on a dune when the Jeep circled round them. "We watched the Jeep drive straight into a huge sinkhole right next to the bay." They called Southampton Town police, who received the 911 call at 4:25 p.m. The Bridgehampton Fire Department was also called to take its boat to the beach for a possible water rescue.
The two inside the Jeep, which was now partially immersed in seawater, were panicking, Mr. Duran said. "They thought the best course of action was to swim across this sinkhole but we assured them that help was on the way and to get to the bed of their truck." The two followed Mr. Duran's advice. "They stayed safe and afloat until the police arrived." In one of the photos Mr. Duran shot with his cellphone Joey Farrell can be seen giving two thumbs-up as help arrived.
The police found a long wooden plank and ran it from solid sand to the bed of the Jeep, and the driver and passenger walked across safely. Mr. Farrell and his son were not injured. The Jeep, with its motor filled with saltwater, was pulled out of the hole Sunday evening with a payloader, Mr. Duran said. Southampton Town Police Sgt. Michael Joyce said the vehicle was taken to Corwith's Auto Body Shop in Water Mill.
Earlier in the weekend, another Jeep, this one a Cherokee, was damaged when a tree fell onto its trunk area as it was driving on Swamp Road near Route 114 in East Hampton at around 8:45 a.m. The driver was not hurt. East Hampton firefighters helped to close the road.
The accident off Route 114 was one of just four accidents East Hampton Town that police responded to over the weekend, none of which resulted in serious injuries. "Over all, our call volume was much lower than usual, and consisted largely of alarms, road hazards, wires down, and fire chief's investigations," Police Chief Michael Sarlo said. The day shift on Saturday saw the highest volume of calls over the weekend, with about 40 calls over eight hours, he said.
"We appreciate the public limiting the driving and taking it slow," Chief Sarlo said. "Between preparing for the worst accumulation possibilities and working with the [Emergency Operations Center] and the Highway Department, Marine Division keeping tabs on the coastal erosion out in Montauk and some flooding issues like Gerard Drive, it was a busy weekend, of course, but we made out fairly well, all things considered."
On Saturday afternoon, though, Montauk firefighters got busy all of a sudden. The department was called to two houses within five minutes. Chief Joe Lenahan said a high-voltage wire snapped at the base on the road, falling and causing an electrical fire next to a house on East Lake Drive around 1:30 p.m. The pole snapped from the wind and weight of the snow. "Winds were gusting about 50 miles per hour at the time of both calls," he said.
The second call came in at 1:35 p.m., when a chimney fire broke out Miller Avenue, near Ditch Plain. Chief Lenahan said there was minimal damage. About 30 firefighters were at the firehouse during the storm, allowing for a quick response. "My people are amazing," he said.
Over in Sag Harbor on Saturday, while snow continued to fall a snowblower erupted into flames as it was being used around 10:30 a.m. on Harbor Watch Court. When firefighters arrived, the homeowner had covered it about three-quarters of the way with snow to put out the flames, according to Sag Harbor Chief Tom Gardella. A dry chemical extinguisher was used to extinguish the rest of the flames.
A few hours later, at about 2 p.m., Sag Harbor firefighters had to take an engine for a ferry ride to stand by at the Shelter Island Fire Department's headquarters while firefighters from the island, with the help of the Greenport Fire Department, battled a house fire on Penny's Path. An emergency gasoline-powered generator was the culprit there. No one was hurt.
Sag Harbor firefighters spent the Sunday afternoon clearing hydrants of snow. Then, at night, Sag Harbor firefighters and the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps were called to Harborview Drive when carbon monoxide alarms went off around 10:45 p.m. Chief Gardella said a toxic amount of the gas was found in the basement, but the family at home was all right. The problem was likely with the furnace, though the department could not pinpoint the problem and called the service company.
In the early morning hours on Monday, at about 2:40, the department was called to Pine Neck Avenue in Noyac, where there was smoke inside a house. A ceiling fan had sparked and was smoldering, Chief Gardella said. He said there was a problem with the voltage to the house, which may have been caused by high winds during the snowstorm. It could have resulted in a major fire, he said. "Luckily, it just started in the ceiling fan."
While the temperature warmed up, ice was still a concern Monday morning, resulting in most schools having a two-hour delay. It would seem most used caution on the roads. Ice did cause one accident on Noyac Road near Locust Drive in Noyac at about 9:30 a.m. Chief Gardella said a passenger car and a truck were involved in a rear-end collision, and the driver of the car was taken to Southampton Hospital with minor shoulder and neck pain.
Correction: Joe Farrell's passenger in his Jeep when it sank on the beach was his son, Joey, not a female passenger as originally reported.