Beacon Hose responded Monday afternoon to a severe motor vehicle accident as a car careened off the bridge that carries Route 8 North over the Naugatuck River and landed on the railroad tracks near the river.

The initial dispatch came in at 12:57 p.m. for a motor vehicle accident near the intersection of Cold Spring Road and Lopus Road Extension, which is one of the least trafficked areas in Beacon Falls. The accident was first reported by a man who was fishing in the Naugatuck River, and units in response received an update that the vehicle had fallen from Route 8 — a vertical drop of 50-75 feet.

At Beacon Hose’s monthly meeting on March 4, we recognized our crew that made a code save back in September on Morning Wood Drive. We had received the report of an unresponsive male in his 70s, and EMT Kevin O’Connell immediately responded from his nearby home and began CPR. Upon arrival, Beacon Hose units deployed both the AED (which delivered four shocks) and our new LUCAS device (for the first time on a call).

We are happy to report that the patient was released from the hospital in relatively quick fashion and has been doing well since. The patient’s doctor told the family that early, quality CPR gave the patient a chance to survive.

Beacon Hose EMS Director Peter Monti, along with Waterbury Hospital, recognized the crew that responded: from left, Matt DeGeorge, John Lubinski, Sherrie Lubinski, Howie Leeper, and Jeremy Rodorigo. (Kevin O’Connell was unable to attend.)

Once again, a terrific job by our dedicated volunteers in helping to secure a positive outcome!

Another year is in the books, and it was a very busy 2018 for Beacon Hose in a number of ways. Of course, we enjoyed unbelievable support at our fundraisers and community events, but our emergency responders were also busier than ever.

Beacon Hose responded to 363 fire/rescue calls in 2018, a dramatic increase from the usual average of 250-300 calls. Many of those calls — more than 110 of them, in fact — came in the immediate aftermath of the tornado that struck Beacon Falls on May 15.

Beacon Hose responded overnight on Aug. 30 to a structure fire at 127 Beacon Valley Road. The vacant two-story home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived around 3:30 a.m.

Chief Jim Trzaski ordered a defensive exterior attack and we extinguished the fire in about an hour. About 25 firefighters, including a mutual-aid ladder truck from Naugatuck, responded to the scene. Citizens’ Engine Co. No. 2 provided mutual-aid station coverage at our firehouse.

There were no injuries, and we had cleared the scene by 7 a.m. The fire was under an arson investigation.

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