| Three Helicopters Landed for Crash on the Thruway |
On December 22, 2011 at 1:14pm, the Oaks Corners Fire Department was dispatched to New York State
Thruway Exit-42 to set up a landing zone for Mercy Flight. The Magee Fire Department & North Seneca
Ambulance were working a crash with multiple injuries on the New York State Thruway. Chief Maney & Deputy
Chief Reifsteck called enroute within a few minutes and were advised that two helicopters had been launched.
Deputy Chief Reifsteck was the first unit on scene and began to set up the landing zone. Chief Maney arrived,
assumed command of landing zone operations and started setting up the second LZ. Heavy Rescue 3272 &
Engine 3211 responded with a crew of 12.
Chief Maney had Deputy Chief Reifsteck take over communications with the incoming helicopters on Seneca
UHF channel 5, while Chief Maney took care of communications with Seneca County units. Magee command
then requested an additional helicopter to the scene from Lifenet and a third landing zone was set up. Rescue
3271 responded to the scene with some additional manpower to assist with carrying patients to the medevacs.
Oaks Corners firefighters took care of landing zone safety, traffic control at the LZ, carrying patients to the
helicopters, and securing patient information & destinations for Incident Command.
Two helicopters from Mercy Flight responded as well as one from Lifenet. A fourth helicopter was requested,
and then cancelled due to travel time.
The following photo's were provided by Oaks Corners Firefighters on scene.
Thruway Exit-42 to set up a landing zone for Mercy Flight. The Magee Fire Department & North Seneca
Ambulance were working a crash with multiple injuries on the New York State Thruway. Chief Maney & Deputy
Chief Reifsteck called enroute within a few minutes and were advised that two helicopters had been launched.
Deputy Chief Reifsteck was the first unit on scene and began to set up the landing zone. Chief Maney arrived,
assumed command of landing zone operations and started setting up the second LZ. Heavy Rescue 3272 &
Engine 3211 responded with a crew of 12.
Chief Maney had Deputy Chief Reifsteck take over communications with the incoming helicopters on Seneca
UHF channel 5, while Chief Maney took care of communications with Seneca County units. Magee command
then requested an additional helicopter to the scene from Lifenet and a third landing zone was set up. Rescue
3271 responded to the scene with some additional manpower to assist with carrying patients to the medevacs.
Oaks Corners firefighters took care of landing zone safety, traffic control at the LZ, carrying patients to the
helicopters, and securing patient information & destinations for Incident Command.
Two helicopters from Mercy Flight responded as well as one from Lifenet. A fourth helicopter was requested,
and then cancelled due to travel time.
The following photo's were provided by Oaks Corners Firefighters on scene.
