(WESTBURY, N.Y) – Nassau County Legislator Viviana L. Russell (D – Valley Stream) joined her Legislative colleagues in honoring first responders from Nassau County’s Office of the Fire Marshal for their outstanding response to a pair of incidents involving overturned fuel tankers.
The first incident occurred on Aug. 10, when a 13,000-gallon tanker carrying gasoline overturned at the intersection of at Old Country Road and Clinton Avenue in Westbury – which experts said is the busiest intersection in Nassau County. Nine days later, on Aug. 19, a 13,000-gallon tanker carrying gasoline overturned at the intersection of Interstate 878 and Rockaway Turnpike in Meadowmere Park/Lawrence.
The Fire Marshal’s office worked in coordination with the Westbury and Meadowmere Park Fire Departments, respectively, and the Nassau County Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit to successfully transfer the contents of the overturned tankers into new vehicles.
“I want to thank you on behalf of the residents of Carle Place and Westbury that are surrounding that area where the incident occurred – it could have been catastrophic for that entire community, let alone the thousands of people that drive up and down those roadways every day,” Legislator Russell said. “The phenomenal efforts of the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office, Nassau PD’s Emergency Services Unit, and the men and women of the Westbury and Meadowmere Park Fire Departments were instrumental in this outcome, and it serves as a sobering reminder of how our first responders put themselves in tremendously dangerous situations to keep Nassau County safe.”
PHOTO CREDIT – Photo by Peter M. Budraitis