Back row (l-r) Doug Pyne, Chief, Northport Fire Department; Will Varese, Mr. Varese’s son, and his wife, Jenny Varese; Andre Sorrentino, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Huntington; Stephanie Bontempi, Suffolk County Legislator; Steve Rossetti, Vice President of Special Projects, Gershow Recycling; and Keith Brown, New York State Assemblyman.
Third row: Ernest Pucillo (left), Trustee, Village of Northport and Joe Sabia (right), Deputy Mayor, Village of Northport.
In support of local fire departments, Gershow Recycling donated the use of 30 cars for the 16th Annual Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament, which was held at the Northport Fire Department’s Training Grounds at Steer’s Pit in Northport on May 13. Gershow also donated the use of its Huntington facility to enable teams to practice in the week leading up to the tournament.
Twenty-seven teams from fifteen fire departments participated in the tournament, which involved groups of five firefighters working to extricate a “victim” from a “crash” using the Jaws of Life. Once again, the firefighters used battery-powered tools during the extrication exercises; the Chuck Varese Vehicle Extrication Tournament was the first such tournament to bring in electric tools.
Each team was judged on the amount of time it took to perform the extrication, the handling of equipment and the safety procedures they followed. The top three teams were:
1st Place — East Northport FD (6 minutes, 26 seconds)
2nd Place — Northport FD (6 minutes, 50 seconds)
3rd Place — Commack FD (8 minutes, 40 seconds)
The Ridge Fire Department had the fastest evolution time of the tournament at 3 minutes, 6 seconds.
After the tournament, the vehicles were brought back to Gershow’s facility, where they were shredded and recycled.
