Volunteer firefighter to be sworn in after West Hills crash
One person was killed and four people were injured in a single-car crash at about 3:40 a.m. Saturday on Sweet Hollow Road south of Chichester Road in West Hills. Firefighters and rescue crews from the Huntington Manor Fire Department, Melville Fire Department, Huntington Community First Aid Squad and Suffolk County Police Department were on the scene. (April 2, 2011) Credit: Steve Silverman
A new Amityville Fire Department volunteer is to be sworn in Sunday, even after being hospitalized from a Saturday car crash that resulted in the death of the driver and serious injuries to four passengers, the department’s chief said.
Driver Zachary Bernstein, 23, of Massapequa, died at the scene when the Volkswagen Jetta he was driving slammed into a tree on Sweet Hollow Road in West Hills at about 3:30 a.m., Suffolk police said.
William End, 22, of Amityville, suffered a torn aortic artery, broken ribs and a bruised lung in the crash, according to police. He had been scheduled to be sworn in as a volunteer firefighter Sunday, but after the accident, officials moved the ceremony to North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital in Manhasset, where he had been transferred, Amityville Chief Russell Sawyer said.
Bernstein and two of the other injured passengers — Cliff Sculdo, 25, and Rory O’Rourke, 25, both of Amityville — were volunteer firefighters, Sawyer said. Sculdo also was transferred to Manhasset while O’Rourke remained at Huntington Hospital Sunday.
Another passenger, Frank Shea, 22, of West Babylon, was taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition, police said.
“It appears that speed was a factor,” said Det. Sgt. Richard Auspaker of the Second Squad. “It’s a very narrow road, it’s unlighted and the trees are close to the road.”
Bernstein was a department volunteer for four years, Sawyer said.
Sculdo spent four years in the Marines and is the son of an Amityville Fire Department first assistant chief, Sawyer said. Sculdo suffered a broken pelvis and hip in the accident.
O’Rourke has been a volunteer firefighter for three years, Sawyer said. He suffered abdominal injuries and bruises.
The crash remains under investigation. The Jetta was impounded for a safety check, police said.
