The following was shared by Chief James Barney, following last nights incident:

"Proud Chief Moment to Share.

At approximately 00:24 Mamaroneck Police dispatched a car to 126 Osborne Avenue for a reported odor of gas, and they transferred the 911 call to County Fire Control for further dispatch.

Prior to the arrival of PD, County Fire Control dispatched the VMFD and EMS to a rescue response for a vehicle into a house involving propane tanks.

Upon arrival, and familiar with this particular residence, I immediately upgraded the response to a full department response, bringing an additional 2 engines and additional personnel. Involved was a single vehicle, that had driven along the side of two homes and came to rest against three, 420lb propane tanks that feed a back-up generator.

All three tanks were toppled over, severing the copper linkage from tank to tank, as well as the 3/4” feed to the generator. Propane was leaking at approximately 250psi at each tank, creating a tremendously unstable environment as well as a vapor cloud encompassing much of the side and rear yard, making it nearly impossible to see what we were working with.

The driver of the vehicle was uninjured and out of the vehicle on arrival. We quickly evacuated the 84 year old resident from the immediately affected home and three surrounding homes. The affected hazard area for this volume and pressure of compromised propane is a minimum of 1500 ft., a very difficult task in our community.

Personnel quickly deployed a hand-line and a master stream line in fog patterns to create displacement and begin to stabilize the environment. Under the direction of both Chief Barney, Chief Siemsen and company officers Spadaro, Walters, and Williams, two firefighters advanced through the protection of the high pressure fog streams and safely shut down the valves on all three tanks.

This technique is both extremely effective and dangerous, and given the immediate nature of hazard, was necessary.

I have attached a few photos of what could have been a much, much more serious disaster.

Looks like 2024 picks up right where 2023 left off.

On behalf of all three VMFD Chiefs, we are extremely proud of the firefighters that come out for us and the community in these emergency situations and extremely proud of the speed and efficiency in which this crisis was mitigated.

Thank you to the Manager and Board who support us with the equipment and tools we need to get these jobs done safely.

Happy New Year!!!"

Our 100% all volunteer department, stands ready to serve those in our community when needed!