The TIMES of Smithtown
Volume 28, No. 24
Serving Smithtown • St. JameS • neSconSet • commack • hauppauge • kingS park • Fort Salonga August 13, 2015
Firefighter injured in St. James blaze By phil corSo
Honoring Civil War veterans in Northport
Also, ‘Rights of Summer’ exhibit in Huntington, ‘The Pied Piper’ in Port Jefferson, SBU Sports
PAge B1
State audit calls out Commack SD Comptroller says school district mismanaged extra cash, fuel
PAge A3
Massage parlor bust Fire marshals announce arrest
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Marquette Drive in St. James became ground zero over the weekend after an early morning fire took over a residential home and sent one firefighter to the hospital, officials said. The blaze broke out around 2:10 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, when the Smithtown Fire Department received a report of a structural fire with possible occupants inside the home, Public Information Officer Jeff Bressler said. The ferocious fight sent one Smithtown firefighter to Stony Brook University Hospital to be treated for a minor injury associated with the emergency response, Bressler said. “Upon arrival, the call was upgraded to a fully involved structural fire,” Bressler said. “Three occupants were assisted out of the house before units arrived. The occupants were
taken by the Smithtown Fire Department and Kings Park Fire Department ambulances to Stony Brook University Medical Center.” Bressler said emergency responders deployed two hoses to fight the flames and also utilized a ladder from Company 7 for assistance. At one point, the flames became so out of control that the fire started to spread to an adjacent house before being put out with significant damage to the siding, Bressler said. By the time the blaze had been doused, Smithtown saw emergency response assistance from fire departments in St. James, Nesconset, Hauppauge, Kings Park and Nissequogue, Bressler said. The cause of the fire was still under investigation, Bressler said. See more photos on page A11.
Photo by Jeff Bressler
the early morning fire sent one emergency responder to the hospital.
Commack ambulance calls to save taxpayers By phil corSo
The Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps is running out of credit, and is calling on the Smithtown Town Board to help them change the way they sustain cash. Director Rich O’Brien and chief Tom Lowenberg of the Commack VAC spoke before the Town Board at a work session on Tuesday morning with hopes of swaying the town to help them seek new ways to collect revenue and, hopefully, save taxpayer dollars for both Smithtown and Huntington residents who utilize the service. O’Brien pitched a plan that would essentially bill private insurance companies for patient care, which he said
would ultimately reduce the amount of money both towns would need to allocate to the group on an annual basis. When a resident receives care through the Commack VAC, O’Brien said the group would then submit a patient
care report to the hospital, which would gather insurance information on the patient, and then the VAC would bill the insurance company for reimbursement of costs, which could be as high as $1,000 on any given
call. If a resident does not have insurance, he said the group would establish a plan in which they could pay for the services they received. O’Brien said his group’s call volume has been steadily increasing to nearly 3,600 calls each year, but revenues have not matched the growth to accommodate activities. “This is simply the most practical way to save taxpayer money,” O’Brien said. “Commack is growing, and if you look at the Commack division between Smithtown and Huntington, our calls are coming in around 60 percent Smithtown and 40 percent Huntington.” The director said the group had been advised to borrow COMMACK continued on page A12