Baldwin F.D. sees lots of action

The Baldwin Fire Department has been working hard recently, responding to a serious car accident and a house fire.

On April 23, an SUV driver made an illegal U-turn at the intersection of Grand and Woodside Avenues, colliding with a Toyota Corolla. While the driver of the SUV was unhurt, both the female driver of the Toyota and her male passenger were left in serious condition. Firemen used the hydraulic rescue tool the “Jaws of Life” to free the driver from the wreckage, and both occupants of the car were transported to South Nassau Medical Center, according to Fire Chief Kevin Smith.

“The woman had a broken leg and neck fractures,” Smith said. “The male passenger initially said he was unhurt, but then started complaining of pain. It was eventually revealed that he had neck fractures as well.”

Less than 72 hours later, on April 26, a call summoned the Fire Department to a house fire at the corner of Seaman Avenue and Brookwood Drive. Baldwin’s engines and ladders arrived on the scene and worked with units from neighboring towns to extinguish what Second Deputy Chief Robert Brancato described as “a well-involved fire that began on the exterior of the house and worked its way in.”

The home, a two-story, irregularly shaped house with low ceilings, was occupied by a teenager and two young siblings when the blaze began. All three youths escaped and were in the company of neighbors by the time the Fire Department arrived.

It took firefighters nearly two hours to extinguish the blaze, and four were injured in the process. But, Brancato said, “Only one of those injuries was serious. One firefighter did go to the hospital with burns to his wrist, [but] the other men were treated and released at the scene.”

Although an ongoing roof repair job was initially thought to have caused the blaze, Smith attributed it to dried lawn clippings. “The grass clippings in the lawnmower dried out, combusted, and then ignited the side of the house,” he said of the county fire marshal’s findings. “The house had wooden siding, which went up like tinder, and the damage was extensive.”

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