Officials: Off-duty Ronkonkoma firefighter rescues driver from burning car
A driver was pulled from a burning car by an off-duty Ronkonkoma firefighter Monday night after a crash in Lake Ronkonkoma, fire officials and police said. Credit: Bryan Lopez
An off-duty Ronkonkoma Fire Department lieutenant pulled an injured driver from a burning vehicle following a crash on the Lake Grove-Lake Ronkonkoma border, fire officials and police said Tuesday.
The firefighter, Lt. Michael White, was driving south on Hudson Avenue at about 7:15 p.m. Monday when he saw a car at the intersection of Smith Street and Cedar Grove Avenue, authorities said.
A 911 call about the one-car crash reported the vehicle being "fully engulfed," according to Suffolk police.
According to an account on the official Ronkonkoma Fire Department website, White notified the department dispatcher, noting "there was a person hanging out of the driver side window" of the vehicle. Fire officials added, "Immediately Lieutenant White sprung into action and without concern for his own safety rescued the driver from the burning vehicle and removed him to safety."
The driver, whose identity has not been released, was then transported by Ronkonkoma Rescue ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital with minor injuries, police and fire officials said.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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