A small Piper plane made an emergency landing on the Cross Bronx Expressway Saturday afternoon/ NYC Fire Wire
With the Hudson Valley chilled out in frosty winter weather, there were a few recent aerial-related odd incidents in other parts of New York state. Take the small plane that landed on the Major Deegan cross Bronx expressway Saturday evening, January 4, as an example.
Bill Demarest at Nyack Free Press covered the Saturday afternoon landing of a 1966 Piper single engine from Westchester County on the Bronx Highway, between Van Cortlandt Park and East 233rd Street. New York City police and firefighters are investigating the emergency landing which caused the closure of the expressway. The rough, bumpy landing was apparently executed without injury.
A wrecked helicopter was recovered in Upstate New York after the truck carrying the bird overturned. / Photo courtesy of NYSP
Demarest also reported on the incident in Genesee County in Upstate New York Friday morning, where a helicopter flew off the bed of truck cargo on the recently snow-cleared I-90. The truck was hauling a Mercury Flight helicopter when the truck overturned and spilled the copter onto the road. After rolling a bit down the road, Demarest reported that the bird came to rest in the middle medium of the highway.
There were no reported injuries and the whole mishap is under investigation.
Frigid Firefighting
Firefighters from South Spring Valley’s Hugh Gassner Fire Company Co. fought a home fire in Chestnut Ridge Friday afternoon, January 3, as temperatures dropped to bitter cold. Demarest’s Nyack Free Press reported that volunteers from nearby fire departments fought the fire until 8:30 p.m.
Fire on Sterling Road in Chestnut Ridge that left several elderly residents without shelter. Some 70 Rockland firefighters responded to the blaze. / Photo courtesy of Rockland Fires
The fire broke out a residence in Chestnut Ridge at 15 aroud 5:15 p.m. and volunteer responders from “Pearl River, Monsey, Tallman, Nanuet, and Spring Valley were called for equipment, manpower and to also standby in case of other emergencies.”
Nyack Free Press reported that Red Cross Volunteers met Saturday with two elderly residents displaced by the fire, which at one point saw some 70 Rockland firefighters involved in the effort. One of the residents was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment for chest pains.
According to Demarest, “Hugh Gassner Assistant Fire Chief Vincent Curcio said that fire destroyed a garage, two cars in the garage and a third car parked in the driveway. The two-story, single family home was also damaged as intense flames from the garage fire spread to the house.”
The blaze is under investigation, according to the report, with an electrical problem in the home’s garage currently the main culprit. “Members of the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Criminal Identification were called in to examine the wreckage and investigate possible causes of the fire,” wrote Demarest.
The Red Cross was reported to have met with the residents to help provide emotional support and to assist with food, clothing, storage, lodging, along with other logistics and assistance.
For a full report on the Chestnut Ridge residential fire, go to Nyack Free Press.
