By Ken Thurman and Christen Deming
The Times Union
Copyright 2007 The Hearst Corporation
All Rights Reserved
ALBANY, N.Y. — A police officer and a firefighter were injured by falling trees Thursday as a powerful thunderstorm blitzed the Capital Region with hail, high winds and heavy rain, while knocking out power to several thousand households.
Most of the damage was in Rensselaer and Saratoga counties where as many as 3,000 customers were still without electric service as of 8 p.m., according to National Grid estimates. Several hundred outages were also reported in parts of Albany and Columbia counties.
The rapidly moving storm passed through the Capital Region about 4 p.m.
“There is a lot of damage ... transformers, poles and trees are down and we’ve still got crews coming in to assess and repair the damage,’' said National Grid spokeswoman Trish Freshwater.
She said a New York State Electric & Gas substation and transmission lines were also down, but all power was expected to be restored overnight.
North Greenbush police Sgt. Douglas B. Pinzer was injured when he was struck in the head by a falling tree, and Defreestville Fire Department Firefighter Joseph Bruno sustained injuries to his upper torso when also hit by falling debris during the storm.
Police said the two had responded to the scene of a personal injury accident on Route 43 when a powerful thunderstorm moved in.
Police officials said there were several ``claps’’ of lightning, hail and very high winds, and then a very large tree snapped and crashed down on the back of a North Greenbush police unit and also hit and badly damaged a Defreestville firetruck.
Both Pinzer and Bruno were taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. Bruno was treated and released and Pinzer was admitted in guarded condition, police said.
``This was a very freak accident,’' Chief Rocco Fragomeni said in a prepared statement.
Elsewhere, Averill Park resident Tom Dudo said his power went out soon after the storm hit. He said he had driven through a hail storm, which he said appeared to be about a half-inch thick and drummed a thundering noise on the roof of his car.
``It sounds like heavy rain, hitting you,’' Dudo said.
The storm also forced cancellation of several afternoon and evening events, including an informational meeting in Ballston Spa on the Saratoga County Water Plan. High winds knocked down a tree at the Davidson Orchard, across Charlton Road from Ballston Town Hall, cutting power to many in the town.
The meeting was to provide town residents with information on the countywide water system from the project’s engineers. So far, Ballston and Wilton are the only towns that have signed on to the program.
Town councilwoman Mary Beth Hynes said the Town Council would definitely still have the meeting, but hadn’t decided when it would be held.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Ingrid Amberger said the powerful thunderstorm formed when two smaller storms merged. Add to that the heat in the atmosphere and energy is almost always produced, resulting in high winds, lightning and hail, she said.
``A frontal boundary across our area created a focus for the storm,’' Amberger said.
Three-quarter-inch hail ushered in by the storm was reported falling in parts of Saratoga, Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia and Berkshire counties where property damage also occurred.
Golf-ball-size hail was reported in East Greenbush and other parts Rensselaer County not far from where the police officer and firefighter were hurt. There were also reports of numerous trees down in Saratoga County and along Route 32 in the Columbia County community of North Chatham.
The storm is over but the heat and humidity are not.