Melville Fire Chief Honored By Man He Saved

A Melville Fire Chief was presented an award for saving a driver from an overturned vehicle moments before it burst into flames in March. The man he rescued presented the award.

East Northport resident Matt Connors awarded Third Assistant Chief Jason Bernfeld with the Medal of Valor Award at a surprise presentation at the Department's 71st Annual Installation Dinner and Awards Ceremony. Connors' parents, John Connors and Dorothy Jeffery, were also present at the ceremony and thanked Bernfeld for his lifesaving actions.

On Monday, March 12, Bernfeld was on his way to work as an NYPD officer when he noticed taillights in the woods near the westbound Round Swamp Road exit on the Northern State Parkway at 6:20 a.m.

He stopped and discovered that an overturned car was on its side down an embankment, and the driver was injured and hanging from his seatbelt, officials say. Bernfeld notified the fire department, grabbed a fire extinguisher and a seatbelt cutter from his car and quickly extinguished the flames emitting from underneath the dashboard.

The driver was freed and removed from the rear window of the car. Officials say the car became engulfed in flames minutes later.

Photos by Steve Silverman