Merrick Fire Department responds to several calls over the weekend

The Merrick Fire Department responded to several emergency calls between July 24 and 26, including water emergencies involving jet skis and an overturned boat, house fires, carbon monoxide alarms, a gas barbecue fire, ambulance calls and multiple vehicle accidents, according to ex-chief Ron Luparello.

On Friday, July 24, MFD’s finest assisted the Freeport Fire Department at a residential house fire at 59 East Seaman Ave. at 3:40 a.m. Later that morning, around 8 a.m., they helped the North Merrick Fire Department extinguish a house fire, as well.

On Saturday, July 25, the department joined the Coast Guard in assisting two jet skiers who got stuck on a sandbar in Jones Bay around 7 p.m. MFD deployed its inflatable rescue boat to reach the individuals, who opted to stay with their watercraft until high tide, Luparello said.

On Sunday, July 26, around 2:30 p.m., the department was notified of a boat that had overturned in the waters off of Short Beach. Multiple agencies, including the Coast Guard, responded to remove the occupants of the boat from the bay.

Later that day, around 5 p.m., MFD arrived to the scene of an overturned sanitation container truck, which occurred on Merrick Road near the entrance of the Town of Hempstead’s waste transfer station in Merrick. Luparello said the truck driver was transported to an area hospital for treatment. Town sanitation workers were recruited to help firefighters clean up the area, and used bulldozers to lift the truck off its side and back on to its wheels.

Also on Sunday, around 6:30 p.m., the department was dispatched to a single overturned vehicle on Clubhouse Road between Alexis Road and Holiday Park Drive in south Merrick. Luparello said the driver of the car reportedly fled the scene on foot.