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Fire chief warns icy access to Stonehill Gardens and ambulance strain as hospital system remains unstable
Summary
Brookhaven Fire Chief reported icy access at Stonehill Gardens creates life-safety risk; ambulance transports rose sharply in January amid regional hospital instability and heavy call volume.
Chief Robert (Bob) Montella reported to council on Jan. 2025 fire and emergency medical services (EMS) activity and flagged two operational concerns: dangerous winter access at Stonehill Gardens and a surge in ambulance calls tied in part to regional hospital system instability.
Chief Montella (identified in the meeting as the fire chief) told council that the borough’s fire company responded to multiple building fires in January and that the department documented five fire incidents in the borough and 63 total fire-related calls for the month when including mutual aid and automatic responses. He reported a combined estimated property loss of $10,000 for the month and no firefighter or civilian injuries.
Chief Montella said Stonehill Gardens — a residential area with a single steep ingress and egress lane — became impassable after snow and ice during a recent storm and that emergency crews spent several hours gaining access. “It is a life safety issue,” he said, urging the borough to work with the complex manager to ensure emergency egress during winter conditions. Council members agreed to schedule follow-up meetings with the complex manager and public-works staff.
On EMS, Chief Montella said the borough’s ambulance service saw extremely heavy use in January: 324 ambulance calls for the month and 229 transports to hospitals. He attributed the surge partly to capacity and billing issues at local hospital providers, which have taken ambulances offline for transport duties in facility operations. “We’ve been getting two ambulances up every day,” Montella said, describing mutual aid coverage with neighboring municipalities and noting the strain on resources.
Ending
Council said it would pursue a meeting with the apartment/management representative for Stonehill Gardens to discuss winter plowing and emergency access, and the fire chief said the department will continue to rely on mutual-aid agreements and staffing adjustments while hospitals and EMS contractors work through operational challenges.
