Post by bigdog000 on Jul 2, 2009 21:05:00 GMT -5
A Wyandanch ex-chief's trip home for an early lunch Thursday proved fortuitous for two Deer Park brothers when the car they were in hit a tree, bursting into flames.
Former chief William J. Waldron, a security guard for Deer Park schools, was on the corner of Half Hollow and Nichols roads in Deer Park around 11:30 a.m. when he heard a sound and looked up to find a car had hit a tree and caught on fire.
The passenger escaped, but the driver, who was wedged beneath the dashboard and steering wheel, could not get out.
"I tried to reach in to unlock the door, but the driver's side was all caved in," Waldron said. "I went over to the passenger side, and at the same time, I hear the locks unlocking, so I ran back to the driver's side and pulled the fellow out of the car."
As Waldron was rescuing the driver, Robert Brower, 22, the driver's brother and passenger, John, 20, was panicking.
Deer Park junior firefighter Robert Macaluso, 18, who assisted in the rescue, was instrumental in keeping the younger brother calm and away from the car, Waldron said. Macaluso will be inducted as a probationary adult firefighter on Monday.
Both victims were taken by the Deer Park Fire Department to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. Suffolk Police said no charges were filed and no summonses were issued.
The mother of the two victims, Jody Brower, said her sons were admitted to the hospital; John for ankle surgery and Robert for observation. Robert told his mother that they were coming back from a nearby Dunkin' Donuts and someone cut them off, she said.
She praised the two firefighters who helped save her sons.
"Thank God for them," she said.
Former chief William J. Waldron, a security guard for Deer Park schools, was on the corner of Half Hollow and Nichols roads in Deer Park around 11:30 a.m. when he heard a sound and looked up to find a car had hit a tree and caught on fire.
The passenger escaped, but the driver, who was wedged beneath the dashboard and steering wheel, could not get out.
"I tried to reach in to unlock the door, but the driver's side was all caved in," Waldron said. "I went over to the passenger side, and at the same time, I hear the locks unlocking, so I ran back to the driver's side and pulled the fellow out of the car."
As Waldron was rescuing the driver, Robert Brower, 22, the driver's brother and passenger, John, 20, was panicking.
Deer Park junior firefighter Robert Macaluso, 18, who assisted in the rescue, was instrumental in keeping the younger brother calm and away from the car, Waldron said. Macaluso will be inducted as a probationary adult firefighter on Monday.
Both victims were taken by the Deer Park Fire Department to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. Suffolk Police said no charges were filed and no summonses were issued.
The mother of the two victims, Jody Brower, said her sons were admitted to the hospital; John for ankle surgery and Robert for observation. Robert told his mother that they were coming back from a nearby Dunkin' Donuts and someone cut them off, she said.
She praised the two firefighters who helped save her sons.
"Thank God for them," she said.
