Four Injured after Fall from Broken Top Bleacher Okay

The four spectators who were injured following an approximately 15-foot fall on Friday night when the top bleacher board in one section broke at Fireman’s Park in Lindenhurst are all home now.

The spectators - all men in their 30s to 40s who are members of fire departments outside of the Town of Babylon, but who were attending the drill competition of the annual Town of the is hosting this weekend - sustained what turned out to be minor bumps and bruises after the top bleacher board on which they were standing gave way.

“Two landed pretty hard, but we made all four go to the hospital,” LFD Chief Jim Gallagher told Lindenhurst Patch on Saturday.

“We collared and backboarded three of them as a precaution, and the fourth man was able to walk to the ambulance,” he said, noting Suffolk Police were called. “They went above and beyond to protect everyone there.”

Two of the men were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and two to Southside.

“Earlier this morning we got reports that all four of them were back home. All four are fine, with more bruised egos than anything else,” the chief said.

Gallagher said all of the firefighters who attended the drill event compete against each other all year, but this Babylon Town tournament is more about fun and camaraderie than competition, where they all get together for fun and good-natured ribbing.

“The competition was going very well up until that point. And in 50 years of doing this nothing like this ever happened before,” Gallagher said. “Then the board broke….There was a lot of weight on it.”

The top bleachers are now cordoned off to keep everyone safe for tonight’s parade, which features all of the Babylon Town fire departments, and starts at 5 p.m. at Kent and South Broadway, Gallagher said, noting the route leads back to the park for awards and a fire department marching band competition.

“The top rows are cordoned off, and come Winter we’ll replace all of the top bleacher boards to make sure everything is safe for next year. We’ll start from the top, and work our way down,” the chief explained.

Bleacher board replacement is something the LFD does each year as part of its annual budget, which is overseen by the Village.

In fact, this past year 40 boards were replaced, the chief noted.

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