Garden City Firefighters' Busy Night

On the evening of Monday, January 14th, Garden City volunteer firefighters were assembling at Fire Headquarters for their regular weekly training when the fire department received a call for an odor of natural gas in the area of New Hyde Park Road and the LIRR main line. Upon arrival at the scene, unit 148 reported a serious natural gas leak in the vicinity of a commercial building at the location. A request was made for KeySpan gas utility to respond immediately. While responding to the incident, Chief John Casey requested a full department response due to the type of gas leak, bringing additional apparatus and manpower to the scene. Chief Casey immediately requested that the LIRR main line be shut down due to the natural gas hazard just several yards from the platform and tracks. In addition, the area was cordoned off to traffic. Assisting with securing the area were the Garden City, Nassau County and MTA police agencies. Firefighters remained on scene and safeguarded the area for approximately 1-1/2 hours while the gas utility worked on shutting the gas down.

After the gas leak, firefighters returned to headquarters and within minutes of their return they were alerted, once again, for a motor vehicle accident with a trapped passenger at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Stewart Avenue. Within moments after the call, Garden City volunteer fire-fighters responded to the incident with heavy rescue 146 and hydraulic extrication equipment. In addition, Engine 143 from station 3 was dispatched. Upon arrival, the Garden City Police Department was on scene rendering aid to the injured civilians and safeguarding the accident scene. Firefighters were presented with a multi-vehicle accident, with one vehicle up on the sidewalk. The vehicle on the sidewalk had severe front end damage, was smoking and had a female passenger trapped in the passenger side of the vehicle. Under the direction of Chief John P. Casey and his three Assistant Chiefs, firefighters were able to quickly stabilize the scene, the vehicles and rescue the trapped passenger. Coordinating and conducting the extrication were Fire Rescue Captain Bill Castoro and volunteer firefighters Doug O'Mara and Gerry Whalen. Volunteer firefighters utilized the hydraulic rescue tools to completely remove the passenger door so medical personnel could access and remove the patient. The rescued passenger was treated and transported to the hospital by the Nassau County Police Ambulance Bureau. In addition, the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corp. assisted at the scene with medical triage.