By: Rory J. Thompson
According to police, a car headed north on Long Beach Road was broadsided as it passed through the intersection of Monroe Street. The car then jumped the curb, careened between two parked cars and crashed through the brick and glass of GinoÕs, at 187 N. Long Beach Road. The restaurant had not yet opened for the day.
Tsuey Young, owner of TimÕs Dry Cleaners, said she heard the loud bang of a car accident and went running outside just in time to see the car Òfly intoÓ GinoÕs. ÒIt was so shocking,Ó she said.
ÒThe switchboard lit up,Ó police said, as witnesses called in to report the accident. Police and fire units responded, and one of the first on the scene was Rockville Centre Chief Fire Inspector Bob Seaman. He radioed in to FireCom that there was a car in the building, the woman driver was trapped and the building was on fire.
Taking command of the operation, Seaman, along with Rockville Centre police detective Kevin OÕToole and other police officers and firefighters, managed to push the car out of the building with the driver inside.
The Reliance Hose Company and the Eureka Ladder Company were the first trucks on the scene. Reliance ran two hose lines into the building to extinguish the flames, while Eureka mounted its ladder on the roof to determine whether the fire had spread to the upper reaches of the building.
The fire departmentÕs Floodlight Rescue Company, along with the Nassau County Police DepartmentÕs Emergency Services Unit, had to cut the car door off to remove the woman from the vehicle. She was transported by RVCFD ambulance to South Nassau Communities Hospital, as was RVC Police Officer Charles Fonseca, who suffered smoke inhalation during the rescue. He was treated and released.
ÒThey were fast, thank God,Ó said Steve Feinson, manager of nearby Bagelman, of the police and fire response. He said customers and employees ran outside when the sounds of the initial crash were followed by a loud boom. Feinson said officers and firefighters were on the scene within minutes and evacuated all the businesses. ÒIt could have been a lot worse,Ó he said.
GinoÕs re-opened the day after the accident. Owner Ralph Romanelli said the business is down to one oven right now, but otherwise operating normally.
Yogurt Gourmet World also suffered damage. Firefighters had to break the four-month-old businessÕs glass front door and rip out part of a wall to get at the wiring in GinoÕs. ÒItÕs just upsetting,Ó said owner Lamia Inan as she watched firefighters and building inspectors walk in and out of her business.
Firefighters were on the scene for about two hours. While the entire Rockville Centre department was tied up at the scene, several other alarms came in as well. Two were handled by the Lynbrook Fire Department, and there was a call about a natural-gas leak on Forest Avenue, to which members of the East Rockaway department responded.
Thompson is a member of the Rockville Centre Fire Department.
