A Queens man clinging to an overturned kayak in Long Island Sound drifted a mile and half off shore before being safely rescued Thursday afternoon with the assistance of a Suffolk Police helicopter, according to Wading River Fire Chief Kevin McQueeney. READ
An apparent lightning strike sparked an attic fire at a Wading River home Tuesday afternoon, according to Riverhead Town police. READ
Update (March 5, 2:10 p.m.): Firefighters quickly put out the fire at 29 Sylvan Drive in Wading River before it spread to the rest of the house.
According to Riverhead Town Fire Marshal Chief Craig Zitek, a tree trimmer was working when a branch fell on a wire, causing a “drop neutral,” a term for when the voltage fails to divide into electrical breaks, that sparked the fire at 29 Sylvan Drive. READ
The Suffolk County Police Arson squad is investigating a fire at a Wading River home that occurred late Friday night, according to Riverhead Town police. READ
Incumbents were unseated in fire commissioner races in Jamesport and Wading River Tuesday night, while Riverhead and Flanders saw quieter elections.
Jamesport voters elected newcomer Matthew Hattorff to a five-year term, ousting current board chairman Robert Sikora in a 127 to 77 vote.
Wading River’s 20th Street will now have a second name, as the Riverhead Town Board formally voted Tuesday to name it after Thomas Lateulere, a longtime Wading River firefighter and Suffolk County Emergency Medical Services instructor who died in July 2016 at age 52 following a bout with cancer.
Thomas Lateulere, the Wading River ex-chief who died last year after decades training Suffolk County’s emergency medical volunteers, will soon be honored with a street in his name. READ
Thomas Lateulere, the beloved 52-year-old Wading River fire commissioner and ex-chief who helped train thousands of Suffolk County emergency medical personnel, lay in the hospital in late June battling cancer for what would be the last time.