N.Y. Home Cut Open to Rescue Overweight Man

Jan. 19--Rescuers responding to a 911 call reporting an unconscious man Thursday in Center Moriches had to cut open the side of the home to get the "overweight victim" out of a home Suffolk County police said was so "overcrowded with items" that responders could not remove the man.

The 911 caller said the man is in his 50s, and police said he was conscious when he was removed from the home at around 12:30 p.m. -- about three hours after the 911 call.

The man was trapped inside a second-floor bathroom, police said, and firefighters had to remove a window and cut open a wall to get to him.

The 911 call reporting the incident was received at 9:25 a.m. Officials said the first-responders found a home so cluttered with items that emergency crews had trouble bringing equipment into the Railroad Avenue house to treat and assist the victim.

Officials said volunteers from the Center Moriches, Selden, Hagerman, Holtsville and North Patchogue fire departments responded to the scene and said the man was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center for treatment.

Copyright 2012 - Newsday, Melville, N.Y.