CARMEL – It was a busy New Year’s weekend for Putnam’s emergency responders with police, fire and EMS personnel answering dozens of calls from one side of the county to the other.
Chimney fires were reported on numerous occasions along with auto mishaps, calls for individuals falling, faulty heating devices and alarms for carbon monoxide malfunctions.
The Putnam 911 Center reported 37 responses on New Year’s Day and January 2 with every fire department and ambulance corps called to assist those in need.
Serious crashes were reported on the Taconic State Parkway near Pudding Street and on Oscawana Lake Road, both in Putnam Valley. Another accident sent several people to the hospital in the North Highlands section of Philipstown while mishaps were also reported in Mahopac Falls, Putnam Lake and Continental Village.
The Carmel Fire Department was especially busy answering four calls for chimney fires, two alarms for wires burning, an assist to the Brewster Fire Department for a report of a fire at Applebee’s Restaurant on Independence Way in the Town of Southeast that turned out to be a faulty heating motor on the roof of the building and Monday’s incident at the TOPS Supermarket at the Putnam Plaza in Carmel.
Fumes forced workers and customers at the Carmel TOPS outside
The noon-time alarm kept emergency responders on the go for three hours. The initial call reported a fire alarm; however, when crews arrived, firefighters discovered that a carbon monoxide leak had filled the store with the invisible and deadly gas.
The store was evacuated and firefighters from Carmel and Brewster assisted by members the Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps, who treated a woman complaining of a headache, vented the large store with powerful fans.
