Saratoga S.FF severs finger in extrication

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Firefighter's finger severed during rescue 

First published: Sunday, February 26, 2006

Times-Union.com

WILTON -- A Saratoga Springs firefighter lost a finger Saturday night while working to remove a passenger trapped after a motor vehicle accident.

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The unidentified firefighter, who works out of the Maple Avenue fire station, was brought to Albany Medical Center Hospital. As of late Saturday, it could not be determined whether surgeons were able to reattach the finger, which was recovered.

The accident occurred while firefighters were using an extrication tool to free two passengers trapped by a one-car accident on the Northway near the Jones Road overpass, just north of Exit 15.

The car accident happened at about 8:30 p.m. during a snow squall. During the procedure, the firefighter slipped and his hand was slashed by a cutting tool, officials said.

At least one of the passengers in the car was seriously injured, according to firefighters, and also was brought to Albany Med. Their condition was not available Saturday night.

-- Matt Pacenza

[firecapt32 282]

we are in a dangerous business === be carefull out there,accidents can happen any time any where. I wish him a speedy recovery

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Firefighter loses part of finger in rescue

First published: Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Times-Union.com

WILTON -- A Greenfield firefighter is recovering at home this week after he lost part of a finger during a snowy rescue Saturday on the Northway.

The firefighter, a member of the Maple Avenue Fire Department, responded to a car crash on the southbound side of the Northway near Exit 16, said Wilton Fire Chief Scott Brackett. Wilton firefighters arrived shortly afterward. Citing privacy laws, Brackett would not identify the injured man.

A rescue crew was pulling a passenger out of a Hyundai Elantra that slid over the embankment during the snowstorm.

A hydraulic cutting tool the firefighter used to free the woman slipped in his hands, closed on the index finger of his right hand and severed the tip inside his glove.

"He grabbed his hand and said he cut his finger off," said Brackett. "He rode to the hospital in the same ambulance as the woman who was injured in the car accident."

Other emergency personnel at the scene retrieved the glove with the fingertip inside it, severed just above the first knuckle, but it was not reattached at the hospital.

The chief said the firefighter was in his mid-40s and has served on the Maple Avenue department for about 10 years.

-- Leigh Hornbeck