3 men rescue woman from burning car in Riverhead

Two men returning to an Aquebogue sober house helped pull a driver from a burning car in Riverhead Saturday morning, aided by another man whose car had just been struck in the accident that caused the fire, officials and witnesses said.

John Cassidy, 32, of Ronkonkoma, and Brian Husfeldt, 51, of North Lindenhurst, said they were returning from treatment in Riverhead when they came upon a scene of wreckage and billowing smoke just before 10 a.m.

Cassidy said he used a piece of roadside metal to break the window of a 2007 Honda Accord driven by Waltrud Gormar, 70, of Riverhead. Then, he, Husfeldt and Scott Harkins, of Riverhead, whose truck was damaged in the crash, pulled her to safety.

Cassidy, a recovering drug user, credited his recent treatment with giving him the presence of mind to act quickly.

"If I had an ounce of crack in my pocket, I might not have stopped," he said. "I'm just glad I was able to do it."

The men also tried to free Gormar's son, Dean Nilsson, 47, of Smithtown, but he was pinned in the Honda. Rescue workers arrived within minutes and got him out.

Riverhead Town police said Michael Pacilio, 72, of Riverhead, drove his 2004 Ford pickup truck south through a red light on Northville Turnpike and Middle Road and struck Gormar's Honda, which was heading west on Middle Road. The Honda then hit Harkins' truck, which was going east on Middle Road.

Rescuers used cutting tools to free Nilsson, who was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center in critical condition, police said. Gormar was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center and later transferred to Stony Brook because of her injuries, Riverhead police said. They remained hospitalized last night, but a nurse said she could not give more details.

Police said they ticketed Pacilio for running the light and failing to yield the right of way. He was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center, police said.

Two police officers and two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and released, Riverhead Fire Chief Nicholas Luparella said.

Cassidy and Husfeldt said that they went back for Nilsson after removing Gormar, but he was trapped.

"We couldn't get him out because his knees were pinned," Husfeldt said, "but the fire department was there really fast, and they got him out."

Harkins, 30, who wasn't injured, said last night that he used scissors to cut Nilsson's seat belt and even tried breaking off the door, to no avail.

"Everybody was extremely helpful and working together," he said of witnesses, emergency workers and neighbors.

Some ran from their homes with fire extinguishers, and one family dragged a garden hose to the site and sprayed water at the flames.

One witness said Cassidy and Husfeldt carefully dragged the woman to the side of the road. "There was one man on either side of her and they just picked her up and pulled her to the grass," said the witness, who declined to be identified.

Several spent fire extinguishers were still at the scene two hours after the rescue.

Able Tsang, who heard the crash from his kitchen, said the intersection is "a high-accident area," even after a red light was recently installed off the fast-moving Northville Turnpike.

"People think the highway keeps on going," Tsang said. "I have seen many accidents here."