Members handled 11 motor vehicle accidents in July

HADDAM — Haddam Volunteer Fire Co. responded to 54 calls for emergency services in July: nine fires/ alarms, 11 motor vehicle accidents, 25 medicals, four downed power lines, three marine and two other matters.

HVFC was dispatched to the intersection of Saybrook Road and Old Turnpike Road July 1 for a motor vehicle accident. Haddam Volunteer Ambulance Service personnel arrived on scene first and tended to the driver. The patient’s vehicle was located a quarter-mile down the road. According to the patient, she stopped and exited her car, and the car continued on down the road. A bystander was able to stop the rolling car and park it on the side of the road. The driver, who said she was struck by her own vehicle during the incident, was taken to Middlesex Hospital.

HVFC was dispatched to a fire on Maple Avenue West July 4. Upon arrival, crews found no visible fire or smoke but determined it was a transformer fire. A secondary power line had burned off the pole and caused a home to lose power. The homeowner was advised to turn off the main power to the home and have Eversource repair the issue before re-energizing the home.

Crews responded to a stranded boat on the Connecticut River, north of Haddam Island, July 8. Firefighters aboard Marine-13 rescued two adults, three children and a dog. The family was dropped off at Haddam Meadows State Park. The boat was anchored with lights on at the point of the breakdown in the river. Also that day, HVFC was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident on Saybrook Road. A driver had crashed his vehicle into a utility pole and parked car. The patient was evaluated on scene but refused additional medical treatment.

Crews responded to another motor vehicle accident July 11 on Saybrook Road. Two vehicles collided head on and one also struck and damaged a utility pole. Two patients were transported to Middlesex Hospital, and one patient was transported to Hartford Hospital with injuries.

HVFC responded to a garage fire July 15 on Forest Ridge Road. The residents, who had recently returned home, noticed smoke inside their garage. Firefighters entered the home through the basement and opened a basement-level storage garage, which was billowing with smoke. Firefighters used a compressed air foam system from Engine 6-13 to extinguish burning or smoldering objects inside the garage. Once the fire was out, firefighters metered the home and found an excessive carbon monoxide reading in the storage garage. They used two large fans to vent the space. The fire marshal is determining the cause.

One patient was airlifted, and three more were transported to hospitals following a motor vehicle accident July 15 on Killingworth Road near the Washburn Hill area.

A driver, heading north on Killingworth Road lost control of his vehicle, slid sideways into the southbound lane and was struck by a vehicle heading south. Both vehicles had one driver and one passenger. Crews stabilized both vehicles with cribbing and extricated the driver of the vehicle that was headed northbound. That driver, who was unconscious, was transported to a landing zone at Burr Elementary School via Haddam Ambulance, where he was airlifted to Hartford Hospital by Life Star helicopter with possible head injuries. Other patients were transported to Hartford Hospital and St. Francis Hospital with injuries. During the incident, all traffic was rerouted.

July 29, crews were dispatched to Beaver Meadow Road, where a driver lost control of his vehicle and struck a utility pole and two trees. Live power lines fell atop the vehicle and firefighters waited until crews from Eversource arrived to deem the area safe prior to assessing the patient. Firefighters helped remove the patient from the vehicle through the passenger-side door and he was taken to Middlesex Hospital.

Eversource noted that the downed utility pole housed a transformer that likely contained polychlorinated biphenyls, which can cause adverse health effects and are probable human carcinogens, were used as coolants in transformers and other electrical equipment between 1929 and 1977.

Firefighters applied absorbent materials over the transformer spill and blocked a drain that feeds to Beaver Meadow Brook. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was notified to assess the situation. The scene was turned over to Eversource and the Connecticut State Police.

Crews responded to a fatal motorcycle accident on Route 9 North between exits 8 and 9 July 30. The operator struck a guardrail and slid approximately 400 feet before falling off the bike. His bike was found approximately 900 feet away from the site of the crash. Firefighters blocked Route 9 during the incident and rerouted traffic off exit 9.

Later that day, HVFC assisted a patient on Wiese Albert Road who had been struck by an 8-inch-wide tree branch while working with a tree company. The patient had lost consciousness for 10 seconds and was bleeding and confused. The patient was transported to Hartford Hospital.

Drills

During a weekly drill night July 16, members practiced water pumping and hand-line operations at Eagle’s Landing State Park by using a 2.5-inch and 1.75-inch hose line, and a smooth bore and combination nozzle.

Membership

The company is always looking for new volunteers. For information, email membership@haddamfire.org.

Olivia Drake photos Haddam Volunteer Fire Company responded to 54 calls for emergency services in July. During a weekly drill night July 16, members practiced water pumping and hand-line operations at Eagle’s Landing State Park.

One patient was airlifted, and three more were transported to hospitals following a motor vehicle accident July 15 on Killingworth Road near the Washburn Hill area, according to the Haddam Volunteer Fire Co.