The Daily Star
EXETER, N.Y. — Three LifeNet helicopters responded Friday, Aug. 23 to the scene of a traffic collision in which both vehicles caught fire and left a 6-year-old boy with serious injuries.
At about 1:23 p.m., State Police at Richfield Springs and numerous fire personnel and EMS responded to the area of county Route 23 and Wing Hill Road in Exeter for a two-vehicle crash.
State Police Troop C Public Information Officer Aga Tinker said that a preliminary investigation at the scene determined that a four-door sedan traveling on county Road 23 was making a sharp left turn onto Wing Hill Road, and the driver did not see an SUV traveling on county Road 23 from the opposite direction.
The two vehicles collided and the sedan caught fire, which subsequently caused the SUV to catch fire.
A passerby with a fire extinguisher assisted in getting a family out of the sedan, and another person assisted the driver of the SUV out of their vehicle, Tinker said.
Four people from the sedan were transported to hospitals.
A 6-year-old male was transported by helicopter to Upstate Medical Center with serious injuries. A 7-year-old female was transported by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
The sedan driver, Nicole C. Rinaldo, 38, of Ilion, was transported to Bassett Medical Center by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries. A 6-year-old male was transported by ambulance to Bassett Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the SUV, Michael Salon, age 52, of Herkimer, was transported by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Fire agencies and EMS that assisted at the scene included: LifeNet, Middlefield, Richfield Springs, Otsego County EMS, Otsego County Emergency Services, Schuyler Lake and West Exeter, Tinker said.
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