by David Flint
The Stephentown Fire Department continues to deal with auto accidents. Most have occurred on Route 43, but Cranston Hill Road was the site of one accident on the morning of December 24. According to Assistant Fire Chief Rik McClave, a Toyota truck driven by a local teen was coming down the hill in very slippery and hazardous conditions when he lost control and started to slide into a ditch. When he tried to steer back onto the road he over corrected and slid across the road striking a utility pole, snapping it in half. The power and telephone wires were suspended about 9 feet above the ground, partially blocking the road and making passage unsafe for vehicle traffic. SVFD closed the road and stood by with the NYS Police until NYSEG crews arrived, cut power and provided a temporary fix. Two days later a NYSEG crew erected a permanent replacement pole and reattached power and telephone lines.
McClave reported that the saga of a short section of Route 43 known as Stone Bridge continues as well. While on scene at the Cranston Hill accident, the Department received a call for an auto accident at Stone Bridge. The driver, who was visiting our area from Hertfordshire, England, was unfamiliar with the roads and winter driving. Coming east with several passengers to go skiing at Jiminy Peak, she lost control of her rental car on the slush covered road. The car was damaged but fortunately no one was injured. The vehicle was towed by Madden’s Service.
Later on the same day SVFD received another call for the same area, this time for a pedestrian vs. auto accident. A resident of the area, who had been walking alongside the road, was found about 15 feet down the embankment on the south side of the road. She had been struck by a vehicle which had lost control coming east down the hill and then slid backwards into her. The patient was assessed for injuries, immediately back boarded and transported by Stephentown Fire Department ambulance to Albany Medical Center where she was reported recovering from non-life threatening injuries. A North Greenbush Ambulance paramedic also responded to the scene and accompanied the ambulance to the hospital.
In yet another incident at Stone Bridge, McClave reported that on December 27 Fire Chief Rich Burgess was on his way home when he came across another accident at the same location. A car driven by Rick Tiffany, a volunteer Mountain Ambassador at Jiminy Peak, was driving east toward Jiminy when he lost control and went over the guard rails, ending up about 40 feet down the embankment on the north side of the road. Fortunately Tiffany was not injured. Chief Burgess called for the state police and for the Fire Department to provide traffic control. At the time of the accident, the road was extremely slippery with a coating of ice. A NYSDOT truck was en route to this area when the accident occurred and was salting this section of road as the fire department arrived. After the fire department closed the road, the car was retrieved from its position down the embankment by Madden’s Service and towed to their facility.
Another accident occurred on the morning of January 2 on the other side of the hill, a very familiar scene of accidents close to the intersection of Route 43 and South Road. Stephentown resident Blake Van Sluyters of Stephentown was traveling east in a white Ford Ranger Edge pickup when he lost control and crashed into a tree on the north side of the road.
He was transported to hospital by the Stephentown Fire Department. The roadway was reported to be dry at the time. State Police are investigating the cause of the accident.
Assistant Chief McClave noted that the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department responded to about eight calls in the very short section of road at Stone Bridge since the second week in December. State Police report that they have also responded to additional calls when the Fire Department was not asked to respond. On two occasions, McClave said, the vehicles were able to penetrate and go over the guard rails, ending up a considerable distance down the slope from the road. NYSDOT repaired the three locations of guard rails damaged in early December and now there are multiple locations that require repair as a result of the most recent accidents. “All of the accidents appear to be taking place during inclement weather when the roads are covered with snow, ice or slush, McClave said. “Most, if not all of the accidents are occurring when the drivers are coming east, down the hill and lose control of their vehicles. In at least two of the accidents the drivers, who were young and inexperienced, reported that they had put on their brakes when they felt their car beginning to slide.”