By Mary Malloy
Jaycee Indiviglio, 33, a Lynbrook resident and an eight-year member of the village police department, was driving north on Peninsula Boulevard and had stopped at a red light when he spotted an airborne Jeep. "I saw a car flying through the air, striking another car." he said. "As it hit the other car, it rolled over and landed upside down."
Indiviglio ran first to the car the Jeep had collided with, which was occupied by two females whose airbags had inflated on impact. "I saw that they seemed OK, so I went toward the other car," he said, adding that he noticed that the gas tank was cracked and gasoline was spewing out.
"There was another man with me -- I don't know who he was -- trying to open the driver's-side door," Indiviglio recounted. Neither of the front doors would open, but the rescuers were able to get in through the rear passenger's-side door. "We dragged the guy into the rear seat, and by that time, the front of the car was erupting in flames," said Indiviglio. "We pulled him out and ran with him away from the fire." Seconds later, he said, the car was engulfed in flames.
According to Detective Fred Fusswinkel of the Lynbrook Police Department, the 1999 Jeep had been traveling southbound on Peninsula Boulevard when it apparently went through a red light and collided with a vehicle heading eastbound on Sunrise Highway. The impact caused the Jeep to careen across Sunrise Highway, overturn and catch on fire.
"[The jeep] also hit a crosswalk sign, and the force of it hitting the other car forced that second car into a vehicle that was stopped in traffic going north," Fusswinkel said.
The Lynbrook Fire Department responded, as did the Emergency Medical Company and the Extrication Team, followed by Engine Company No. 1 and Tally-Ho Engine No. 3.
Fire Chief Keith Festa arrived at the scene as a wall of flames lept from the overturned Jeep. The other two cars in the accident were not as seriously damaged. The Emergency Medical Company immediately went to work on the injured man while the engine company stretched two lines to the burning vehicle. Tally-Ho supplied water, and a quick hose line attack put out the fire in just a few minutes. A dike of soil built by the firefighters in the Peninsula Boulevard roadway stopped the flow of motor oil from reaching a nearby storm drain. The Nassau County Fire Marshal's office also responded to the scene to check for hazards and oil contamination.
Four people needed medical assistance, and were taken to area hospitals by the Lynbrook, East Rockaway and Rockville Centre Fire Departments, who were called in on a mutual aid response.
"This is just another example of the exemplary work done by this officer," said Lynbrook Police Chief Joseph Neve of Indiviglia.
"I was just there at the right time," Indiviglia said. "I wish I knew who the other guy was. He did the same things I did to help."
Steve Grogan contributed to this story. Comments about it? Mmalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
