WESTCHESTER COUNTY, New York (WABC) — A deputy fire chief took quick action to turn a dangerous highway situation, involving a sleeping driver, into a roadside rescue in Westchester County.
As deputy chief of the Goldens Bridge Fire Department, Robert Melillo knows how to handle the big rigs, but in the last few weeks, his SUV has been the life-saving apparatus.
On March 29, he was driving north on I-684 when a motorist pulled alongside him to point out a car up ahead weaving erratically. Melillo spotted it, drove up next to it and saw something shocking.
“Totally out. I mean, her face was right up against the window. I tried signaling her, I hit my horn a couple times and she didn’t wake up,” said Deputy Chief Melillo.
Despite being fast asleep, the driver was going 70 miles an hour. The car’s lane departure warning system was keeping it relatively straight. Melillo shielded other cars with his own.
“Very nerve wracking,” Melillo said. “I was nervous that it was going to hit another vehicle, she was going to drive off the road, hit a tree, you know, embankment, roll over. Anything could potentially happen. I mean, I think it was a life and death situation for her at that point.”
Amazingly, it ended safely after six miles when the car veered towards exit 6A. The rumble strips on the exit ramp woke the driver.
“Ran up to the car. She opened the window and talked to her to see if she needed medical attention,” Melillo said. “She just basically said, ‘I’m really tired and I can’t keep my eyes open and I just want to get home.'”
If that wasn’t enough, a few days later, Melillo was pressed into service for another unusual incident on I-684. This time on his way to work.
Melillo stopped to assist after a minor car accident when the tow truck’s cab caught fire. The chief was able to put it out with an extinguisher in his vehicle.
Just another two days of work for the 38-year department veteran where his father and two brothers also volunteered.
“I’m just carrying on the family tradition of being a firefighter, you know, and I enjoy giving back to the public and protecting my town,” Melillo said.
And he has a knack for being at the right place, in the nick of time.
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