County Road 39 Crash Sends 4 To Hospital Friday Morning

On the morning after Thanksgiving, two vehicles collided on County Road 39 in Southampton, sending four people to the hospital, including a father and young son.

Southampton Fire Department's heavy rescue unit had to cut both drivers out after firefighters were dispatched to County Road 39, just west of Hill Station Road near the Lobster Inn, on Friday at 5:29 a.m.

A sport utility vehicle and a small sedan had crashed, sending one into the guard rail on the westbound side of the road, according to Second Assistant Chief Chris Brenner.

It took over an hour to extricate the male driver in the sedan, Brenner said. A Suffolk County Medevac landed at the Stony Brook Southampton campus and Southampton Town police brought one of the flight paramedics to the scene to assist ambulance personnel while firefighters worked to get the driver out.

They eventually cut the guard rail, Brenner said. "It was a difficult position to be able to pop the door."

Though the man was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, Brenner doesn't believe his injuries were not life-threatening.

Three others, including a passenger in the sedan, were taken to Southampton Hospital with non-life threatening injuries by Southampton Town and Village ambulances.

Firefighters extricated the driver of the SUV. Off-duty Southampton Village Police Lt. Christopher Mohl came upon the accident and assisted, helping a young boy in the SUV while firefighters worked to extricate his father, Brenner said.

The westbound lanes were closed from Hill Station Road to North Road . One eastbound lane was kept open.

"Half-way through extrication, just west of the scene, we heard an explosion and saw and smoke coming up," Brenner said.

A tractor trailer that was in traffic on Sunrise Highway had a mechanical issue causing a tire to blow out and igniting its brakes, Brenner said. "Additional crews were called to put out the smoldering brakes."

Chief Dennis Roy sent another chief and the pumper truck to assist with the tractor trailer.

"I thought he guys did an incredible job," Brenner said, adding that it was 27 degrees.

Firefighters were on scene for about two and a half hours. The road was reopened at about 8:15 a.m.

The accident occurred in a troublesome area of County Road 39. During the summer of 2012, an accident at the same spot closed the road for six hours while police investigated a head-on crash involving a garbage truck.