By NANCY HILER
, injuring his wife, Geraldine, 83, and causing serious structural damage to the home.
The team had to shore up the house to avoid a collapse, a department spokesperson said. The team is trained above and beyond usual standards to deal with structural issues, as well as confined-space, high-angle and trench rescues, Fire Commissioner Rick Wallace explained earlier this year. North Bellmore's team is often called on by other Long Island fire departments in unique emergencies.
Palumbo reportedly lost control of his white Toyota Corolla, hitting the accelerator instead of the brake pedal because he was wearing cumbersome winter boots instead of his usual sneakers. The temperature that day, March 6, was in the low 20s.
The World War II veteran's wife, hearing her husband return from a shopping trip, opened the door leading to the garage of their Branch Avenue home, and the car veered into her. It sped into a rear laundry room, where it also hit a 220-gallon home heating oil tank, although no fire was ignited.
Fred Palumbo was unhurt, but Geraldine was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center, where she was listed in critical but stable condition, hospital spokeswoman Ann MacAvoy said. She was discharged three days later and transferred to Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Melville, said a spokeswoman there, Krista Johnson.
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