| The turkey had to wait as the bad weather continued to keep the members of Canton Fire and Rescue busy. After returning to service from the fatal house fire at 0908 hours, there was just a short break until 1141 when the tones dropped for a reported one car roll over on USH 11, 3 miles south of the village line. Assistant Chief Robert Crowe went enroute to the scene at 1143. Details about the accident were sketchy and an exact location was unknown. Chief Crowe, along with a State Police unit headed south on USH 11 in an attempt to locate the accident. Engine 6 , Rescue 1 and Ambulance 133 responded at 1152 hours. The entire length of USH 11 was checked to the town of Dekalb line with no incident found. Further investigation found where a vehicle had left the roadway near where the accident had been reported to be and then was able to return to the roadway and continue on. All units returned to quarters and were back in service at 1202 hours.
A half hour later at 1233 hours, the tones dropped again for reported two car head on MVA on USH 11 south of the village. Engine 6, Rescue 1 and Ambulance 133 were enroute at 1235 and arrived at 1242 to find a serious personal injury accident with one vehicle on the roadway and one in the ditch. Chief Crowe established command and requested the crew on Rescue 1 to prepare for extrication immediately upon their arrival. The driver of the vehicle in the ditch, a Honda Accord, was pinned in the front seat with severe traumatic injuries. Her 7 year old nephew was in the back seat also complaining of injuries. The car had suffered major damage to the front end. With the extended extrication time that was going to be needed Chief Crowe requested that Rennselaer Falls Rescue respond to the scene with an ALS ambulance and that Potsdam Rescue put a unit on standby at Grants Gas Station halfway between Canton and Potsdam. The 7 year old was removed and transported to Canton Potsdam Hospital in Potsdam by Canton Ambulance 133. The family of four from the minivan still on the road way was transported by Rennselaer Falls Ambulance 971 and Canton Ambulance 131 to Claxton Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg. The extrication of the critically injured patient took nearly 50 minutes. Once removed from the vehicle, the patient was transported to Canton Potsdam Hospital in Canton Ambulance 132 and later transferred to SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse with multiple trauma. All personnel had to battle the harsh weather as the roads were ice covered and slippery with the temperatures dropping and wind blowing, creating very cold conditions. Units remained on scene to assist the State Police in clearing the debris from the roadway and all units were back in service at 1427 hours. |
