Hillcrest Fire Company Saves a Life En-Route to Responding to Fire Alarm

By M.C. Millman

As the Hillcrest Fire Company was responding to an automatic alarm in Clarkstown at 11:55 p.m. on Friday night, Hillcrest Fire Company Captain Orin Ben-Jacob noticed a vehicle turned on its side on Route 45 across from Summit Park Elementary School.

He immediately turned around to check inside the vehicle, noting a single occupant trapped inside. He diverted some fire trucks to the original call while having others respond to the overturned car.|

On a night with temperatures at five degrees, which felt more like negative 15, the driver was lucky to have been discovered within five minutes of having flipped, most likely as a result of inadvertently driving into the drainage ditch along the side of the road. He was extracted from the vehicle within ten minutes after the entire roof was removed to facilitate the maneuver. 

"This is just another example," Hillcrest Fire Company Captain Orin Ben-Jacob shares with Rockland Daily, "of how the Hillcrest Fire Company is  equipped to respond to multiple calls at multiple times, so we can handle multiple emergencies swiftly and safely simultaneously like this one."

As for the Clarkstown automatic alarm, it ended up being a false alarm. 

Photo Credit: Orin Ben-Jacob