Harrison Ass't Fire Chief MVA 6-21-07

[x635 4,066]

Scares me to see something like this happen. Hopefully HFD750 will keep us updated.

Thoughts and Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Harrison Asst. Chief Henry Mohr.

Harrison ass't fire chief driving to accident crashes; Route 127 closed

By NICOLE NEROULIAS AND ROB RYSER

THE JOURNAL NEWS

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[attachmentid=2959]

Photos:Nicole Neroulias/The Journal News

(Original publication: June 21, 2007)

HARRISON - An assistant fire chief who was driving to an accident on the Hutchinson River Parkway shortly after 7 a.m. today was injured, along with another driver, when their cars smashed at the intersection of Harrison and Union avenues, a fire official said.

Harrison First Assistant Fire Chief Henry Mohr was taken by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla after a department-issued SUV he was driving rolled over, said Second Assistant Fire Chief Dino Del Signore.

The unidentified driver of the other vehicle, a Jeep Laredo, was taken to Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle.

The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Del Signore said.

Harrison Avenue is closed between North Street and Union Avenue while police investigate the crash site. Both vehicles remained on the scene at 8:45 a.m. - the Jeep, smashed into a low stone wall on a front lawn at Harrison and Union, and the fire department SUV about 100 feet away, upside down on Harrison Avenue.

Harrison Avenue, also known as Route 127, is expected to be closed until at least 9 a.m. The speed limit there is 20 mph on Route 127, and 15 mph on Union Avenue, due to the Harrison Avenue Elementary School at the intersection.

Mohr was driving on Route 127 to a rollover crash on the Hutchinson River Parkway when the accident with the Jeep happened, Del Signore said. He could not confirm if speed was a factor in the accident.

The sound of the crash shook the neighborhood.

Colleen Williams, of nearby Sunny Ridge Road, heard the crash from her home.

"I thought it was an explosion," she said. "My son said it sounded like sgunshots."

School buses to Harrison Avenue Elementary School were rerouted due to the road closure this morning. The school is holding its fifth grade graduation ceremony at 9 a.m.

[hawkbase 21]

best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[mlcougar2001 8]

Hope for a Speedy Recovery. Hope everything works out for the best.

[RWC130 594]

I wish the Asst Chief a speedy recovery.

Glad to hear he is OK.

Dino keep us posted!

[DOC22 1]

Hope all involved, injured have a speedy recovery and everything works out well for all

[PATROL224 0]

BEST WISHES FOR A FULL RECOVERY!

[grumpyff 1,159]

Hope everyone involved recovers quickly. Scary picture to see, with the rolled over chief's car. Does the car have a cage to contain equipment to the rear of the truck?

[HFD750 6]

I just left the hospital Chief Mohr is in good spirits and thanks all for there concern. They are keeping him overnight for observation. Since this whole thing seems to be blowing up on the news I really can't say much more right now,but you all know me and as soon as I can I'll say what I have to. I now have to go to the police station for questioning. Like I haven't gone through enough already. Thanks again for your concern I'll keep you posted. I wonder why channel 12 dosen't want to talk to me or the other chief? I was there the police weren't...

[Goose 188]

Sounds like the ER made a good decision given the kenetics of the crash. Glad to hear both MOS and Civ have only minor injuries. Best wishes and a speedy recovery to both!

[IzzyEng4 427]

Remember all this could happen to any one of us.

Speed recovery Chief! Hope your better soon!

[mfc2257 464]

Harrison a**'t fire chief driving to accident crashes; Route 127 closed

I hate the media. The way the title is written, it's like they are already saying that it was his fault.... Regardless of who's fault it is, an initial headline would more appropriately read

"Harrision a**'t fire chief involved in moter vehicle accident while driving to emergency"

Edited June 21, 2007 by mfc2257

[ex-commish 490]

Hopes for a speedy recovery and back to service!!!!

[ems731 0]

I hate the media.  The way the title is written, it's like they are already saying that it was his fault.... Regardless of who's fault it is, an initial headline would more appropriately read

"Harrision a**'t fire chief involved in moter vehicle accident while driving to emergency"

←

you think that title is bad, look at what News 12 title is, "Asst. fire chief likely to blame for Harrison crash"

Here's a link to what News 12 Reported,

http://www.news12.com/WC/topstories/article?id=196183#

I'm glad to here that all involved are ok. Get well soon Henry.

[firecapt32 282]

I wish all of them a speedy recovery. We all know that accidents can happen--but when it involves a "Public Offical" there has to be and should be a investigiation conducted. Municipalities are involved as well as Insurance Companies. So a investigiation is in order.

Remember that almost 25% of all firefighter deaths occur responding to or returniong to quarters.

[HFD750 6]

you think that title is bad, look at what News 12 title is, "Asst. fire chief likely to blame for Harrison crash"

Here's a link to what News 12 Reported,

http://www.news12.com/WC/topstories/article?id=196183#

I'm glad to here that all involved are ok. Get well soon Henry.

←

Ok first of all they have it all wrong!!!! No surprise there. He was by himself so who else went to the hospital?? Thats weird 2 people thats all I know about. I was there and I saw it happen I was right behind him. So there WRONG.

"According to police, a Jeep hit the side of the fire department SUV and crashed into a wall. Police say Mohr’s vehicle kept going forward out of control and flipped"

Ah no he was hit in on the passenger side by the tire and thats what caused him to roll over or maybe I was seeing things.

And he was well into the intersection... GET THE FACTS NEWS12

crap like this really gets me going. They'll run anything right or wrong.

Updates to follow on Chief mohr. They just moved him to a privite room. I'll post more as I get it.

Thanks again for all your concern.

Dino

[Guest]

It seems everyone is getting very worked up about this.

News12 is simply regurgitating what they were told from Harrison PD. The Police Cheif sadi himself that Mohr appeared to be traveling to fast for the road. We all learn to look in every direction one million times before procedinig throguh an interesection, which The Police Chief said Mohr failed to do.

I am not blaming Mohr here, but come on guys...can we ever blame ourselves for causing a problem? If he was at fault, let's say he was. If he wasn't, then he wasn't. But just because a news station reports what they are being told from PD does not make them slanderous or bad...

and one more thing... news12 said two people were brought to the hospital, one being the chief and the other being the driver of the Jeep. What is so confusing about that HFD750? There's you two people....

[x242Steve 1]

Don't ever defend News 12 when it comes to how they handle this sort of thing!

They, like many other "news" agencies, are notorious for their two-faced coverage of the world of Emergency Services.

If anyone from News 12 reads this I hope you know what muck-raking slime you are.

Dino, please send best wishes to Chief Mohr from your "Garnet" neighbors.

Edited June 22, 2007 by 242steve

[HFD750 6]

It seems everyone is getting very worked up about this.

News12 is simply regurgitating what they were told from Harrison PD. The Police Cheif sadi himself that Mohr appeared to be traveling to fast for the road. We all learn to look in every direction one million times before procedinig throguh an interesection, which The Police Chief said Mohr failed to do.

I am not blaming Mohr here, but come on guys...can we ever blame ourselves for causing a problem? If he was at fault, let's say he was. If he wasn't, then he wasn't.  But just because a news station reports what they are being told from PD does not make them slanderous or bad...

and one more thing... news12 said two people were brought to the hospital, one being the chief and the other being the driver of the Jeep. What is so confusing about that HFD750? There's you two people....

←

Look I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you but read it... It says chief Mohr and his passenger... Thats wrong. As far as the police chief goes well.... He can say whatever he wants fact is he wasn't there and didn't show until an hour later.How does he know what happened. Thats all I'm going to say... My focus is on my Chief and his wife and two kids right now. By the way I was talking about the news12 website not the news station broadcast. Watch news 12 the story has changed 3 times since it was first aired... I hope thats not your sole source of news young man.

PLEASE LETS KEEP IT FOCUSED ON MY CHIEF AND HIS SPEEDY RECOVERY.

Edited June 22, 2007 by HFD750

[Guest]

750,

I agree with you on News12, trust me. I too think that the focus should be on the recovery of everyone that was injured.

[31TruckiePCFD 5]

Best wishes and a speedy recovery chief! It will all work out as it always does!

[Guest]

It's funny how many members of EMTBravo were so quick to critique and Monday morning quarterback the Charleston Fire and state that we can grieve but we must learn from this event NOW. So now there's a local occurrence and now we need to back off critiqueing the event and concentrate on the "speedy" recovery of the injured party. A double standard for sure.

As for News12- over the past two days they seemed to do a pretty decent job highlighting both the career fire departments doing trench training in Scarsdale and the County's Technical Rescue Team up in Valhalla in two separate stories. We love to use them for the good stuff, but jump all over them when they report something that puts emergency services under even a little scrutiny. That isn't quite fair.

Rumors and heresay are never productive. But discussion is always good. We can all learn from others' experiences- even if those other experiences may or may not involve doing something wrong.

[x635 4,066]

Well Said Clutch!! I completly agree, as long as the fact's aren't distorted and we have strong information to base a discussion on.

[WHFD318 17]

Glad to hear the chief is doing well. i was actually on my way to work and got on the hutch at north street heading south and saw EMS responding. As for the whole media thing, I never completely trust what the news has to say.

2162, hope to see you back soon. Get well Chief.

[ny10570 745]

Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. The media is going to run with the first and mostinteresting story. They are ratings and revenue driven. It doesn't forgive them for getting stories wrong, but it is what it is. There's no sense in getting angry about it.

[ONLOCATION 24]

hope all goes well for the Chief and the rest of the Harrison Fire Department

[HFD750 6]

I really appreciate everything and so do all the members of the Harrison Fire Department. It's tough times right now,but hopefully it will work out in the end. Chief Mohr is still in the hospital as of right now there doing some more tests hopefully he'll be back soon. Thank you again.

Dino

[HFD750 6]

Well Chief Mohr is out of the hospital and home with his family... He will be on bed rest for the next week until his follow up visit.

[Guest]

Harrison police await 'black box' analysis of crash that injured fire official

By NICOLE NEROULIAS

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: June 25, 2007)

HARRISON - A fire department vehicle's "black box" will help police determine who caused the crash that injured an assistant fire chief and a town resident on Harrison Avenue last week, police said.

The investigation, previously expected to conclude today, will continue until Friday, said Harrison Police Chief David Hall. Until county police analyze the Harrison Fire Department SUV's event data recorder, a device similar to the "black box" found on planes, authorities will not issue any tickets or further speculate on whether one or both vehicles were speeding before the 7 a.m. Thursday crash.

"Everything's going to be reconstructed," Hall said. "The box from the SUV will let us know the speed when contact was made. The exact measurements (on Harrison Avenue) will be taken and it will be computerized."

Harrison First Assistant Fire Chief Henry Mohr, 31, was driving to a rollover on the Hutchinson River Parkway Thursday morning when his fire department SUV collided on Harrison Avenue with the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo driven by Sandra Fugazy, 59, of nearby 239 Sunny Ridge Road.

Mohr had been driving with his lights and sirens on through the red light at the intersection of Harrison and Union avenues, about a mile from the firehouse and three miles from the Hutch accident. According to authorities, Fugazy's jeep struck the back of the SUV, then rammed into a low stone wall at the intersection; Mohr lost control and rolled over about 400 feet north on Harrison Avenue, also known as Route 127.

Mohr, a volunteer firefighter with the department since 1993 and a driver with the town's Department of Public Works, was kept overnight at Westchester Medical Center with a bruised kidney. Fugazy was treated and released for minor injuries at Sound Shore Medical Center.

Sandra Fugazy and her husband, John, said today that they had no comment on the crash or her injuries.

The speed limit is 20 mph on Harrison Avenue and 15 mph on Union Avenue, due to the Harrison Avenue Elementary School at the intersection. It goes up to 40 mph on Harrison Avenue between Union Avenue and North Street, where Mohr's SUV rolled over.

State law states that a driver of an emergency vehicle can run red lights "after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation ... (they may) exceed the maximum speed limits so long as he does not endanger life or property."

Second Assistant Fire Chief Dino Del Signore, who had been driving behind Mohr before the crash, said today that Mohr had yielded at the red light and then proceeded with caution when the Jeep struck his SUV.

The black box, which has been sent to the Westchester County Police for analysis, will officially make that determination, Hall said.

Most vehicles equipped with air bags and built in the last three years also have event data recorders, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police used black box analysis to determine how fast the SUV was traveling in the April crash that seriously injured New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. In that case, the black box had recorded a speed of 91 mph, on a highway with a 65 mph speed limit.

In Harrison, a black box analysis is requested for serious injury crashes or when police cannot rely on eyewitness accounts, Hall said.

"We had eyewitnesses, but this is involving a town vehicle, so it's a little more serious," he said.

Hall said the ongoing investigation should not cause any road closings this week.

[JetPhoto 626]

I hope he has a speedy recovery

The trucks cabin held up pretty good looking at the picture.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Clutch...great post. I'm just waiting for all the facts before making any comments or thoughts. I'm hoping to have some positive things to be able to discuss and some things to still reinforce in this type of incident.

I hope all is still going well. I'm not sure but I believe it was an Harrison Chief that assisted me at a fire I recently had across the street from my station as I was pulling out with my flycar to go to a MVA rollover in another district I found smoke and fire from a 3rd floor apartment window and there was a chief's car at the intersection with me. I never got a good look at the car and both just took off up the stairs being it looked like the apartment was occupied. He left before I could find out who it was. If it was Henry..thanks for giving me a hand that day and feel better.