Weekend Beach Update
The latest on what happens when caution is thrown to the winds by bozos on vacation on Delaware and Maryland coastal beaches....
By Alan Henney

FIREFIGHTER SAVES ELDERLY WOMAN FROM BURNING HOUSE
A volunteer firefighter happened to be in the area where an elderly
woman lives when her home caught fire on Sunday.  Her house, on
Lighthouse Road (Route 54) west of Fenwick Island, caught fire around
4:50 p.m.
The firefighter reportedly pulled her to safety, but not before she
suffered smoke inhalation and first-degree burns to her forehead.  She
was taken to Atlantic General Hospital and will hopefully be ok
despite her age.
Around 5 p.m., firefighters reported flames pouring out of the front
windows on the first floor of her two-story wood-frame farmhouse.
Maryland and Delaware fire departments responded to the fire which is
near Williamsville Road in Williamsville.

ROUTE 1 WEEKEND CRASHES AND REHOBOTH TRAFFIC WOES
A man was struck by a vehicle around 5:20 p.m. Friday near the
Rehoboth Food Lion on Route 1.  According to a paramedic radio report,
the 38-year-old man was hit by a vehicle traveling about 20 m.p.h.
injuring his right leg, and then he was thrown onto the hood where he
"starred" the vehicle's windshield.  His injuries did not sound life
threatening.  The accident closed two southbound left lanes and one
northbound left lane for at least 15 minutes.
Around 4:50 p.m. Saturday, a woman overturned in a vehicle on Route 1
at Robinson Drive on the "forgotten mile."  She wore her safety belt
and mostly complained of wrist pain when taken to Beebe.
Traffic out of Rehoboth Beach was often crawling this weekend, even
when the roadways were clear of accidents.  Rehoboth police officers
on foot patrol were assigned several times to traffic posts on
Rehoboth Avenue to help ease congestion as vehicles attempted to leave
town and get onto Route 1.

CLOSE-CALL FOR FENWICK ISLAND SWIMMER
Bethany Beach firefighters, Sussex County and Ocean City paramedics
rushed to Fenwick Island just before 6 p.m. Sunday for a reported
drowning.  Fortunately a lifeguard happened to still be on the beach,
noticed a swimmer caught in a rip near Houston Street and was able to
make a successful rescue.
REHOBOTH POLICE BAN DISORDERLY YOUTHS FROM BEACH
Rehoboth Beach lifeguards became aggravated around 2 p.m. Sunday when
a couple young men refused to obey their orders.  The men had possibly
been in the area of the shipwreck when they brushed off one guard's
instructions.  The youths responded to another guard with foul
language before heading for the boardwalk.
The guards kept the kids under observation while Capt. Kent Buckson
contacted police.  Officers stopped the youths, decided to talk with
their parents and have them "banned" from the beach for the rest of
the day.
REHOBOTH LIFEGUARDS PULL INFLATABLE POOL TO SHORE
One neat thing about the beach is the variety of events one might
encounter while visiting.  Just before quitting time on Friday,
Rehoboth Beach lifeguards watched a strong breeze from the north blow
an inflatable pool on the water.  Two guards intercepted the pool at
Wilmington Avenue as it was drifting out to sea.  They were greeted on
shore by cheering beach goers.  One guard said he did not know the
pool's origin, and no one was found inside nor reported missing.

MAN IN DILEMMA AFTER $300 IN FINES
Ever have one of those days when you just receive your paycheck and
find you have to spend it all unexpectedly?  That happened to one man
Friday when one of Rehoboth's parking enforcers found his vehicle
which accumulated $300 in fines.  The vehicle had just received yet
another ticket and was on the verge of getting towed around 5:30 p.m.
when the man showed up.
He told the parking enforcer he had his paycheck, but would have to
take his car to the bank to get it cashed so he could pay off the
city.
Parking enforcement personnel generally do not allow a vehicle to
leave without the owner/operator making good on the debts, preferably
with cash.  In this case, the supervisor said they'd accept a check,
but "it better not bounce!"
The computerized ticket machines used by the Parking Meter Department
check the city's wanted list when issuing tickets.

BAD WEEKEND FOR MOTORCYCLE/SCOOTER CRASHES
Passing firefighter stops to perform CPR
Three men were flown from Ocean City to trauma centers this weekend
after crashing their motorcycle, moped or scooter.
The most serious accident happened around 8:50 p.m. on Friday when a
motorcyclist in his 30's drove head-on into a light pole.  Police were
reportedly following him as he bumped several vehicles on Coastal
Highway before he cut in front of an Expedition and struck the pole at
67th Street.
A fire chief from Bucks County, Pennsylvania happened to come across
the accident, found that the man had no pulse, and immediately began
CPR.  The motorcyclist wore a helmet but suffered a serious head
injury and remained unconscious when he was flown to the trauma
center.
On Saturday around 2:20 p.m., a 21-year-old man was involved in an
accident with another vehicle while riding a moped.  He complained of
pain in his lower abdomen when he was taken to the medevac helicopter
waiting at Northside Park.
A 27-year-old was riding a motor-scooter around 3:45 p.m. Saturday
when he was involved in a crash with a passenger car.  He was taken to
the Third-Street ball field for a medevac.  A paramedic's radio report
indicated the man had severe hip pain and "possibly an unstable
 pelvis" but was otherwise okay.
In Sussex County, an intoxicated 50-ish-year-old motorcyclist was
flown on Monday (today) after he was thrown an estimated 20 to 60 feet
from his cycle into a bean field.  He was found on Cypress Road in the
Selbyville area around 12:25 a.m.  The man was reported as conscious
but not alert with scratches to his head.
HELICOPTERS FLY 2 WEEKEND SURF INJURIES
In less than a three-hour period on Sunday, Ocean City EMS personnel
requested helicopters to fly two people who were injured in the surf.
That brought the weekend total medevac flights from Ocean City to
five.
The first victim suffered neck and back injuries at 1:25 p.m. on 142nd
Street.  That was followed by a 47-year-old woman who "hyper-extended"
her neck while in the surf at 135th Street at 3:50 p.m.  She had
tingling in her arms and legs.  Both were flown to trauma centers from
Northside Park.
Around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, a 20-year-old woman was thrown into the
north jetty at the Indian River Inlet.  She injured her wrist and was
taken to Beebe by ground.

SATURDAY NOISE COMPLAINTS AT BOTTLE & CORK
It was 10 p.m. Saturday when Dewey Beach police received a second loud
noise complaint about the Bottle & Cork.  The dispatcher said guests
at the Atlantic Oceanside Motel were complaining.  Police and one of
the Cork's staff each used their meters to measure the sound level at
the street.  The officer reported 80 decibels, although he said he was
uncertain how much of that noise was due to Route 1 traffic.  The
officer said the establishment turned down the music anyway.

LOUD NOISE COMING FROM PARTY BOAT
Rangers in the Cape Henlopen State Park struggled what to do, if
anything, about noise complaints they received around 2 a.m. Saturday.
They tracked down the "extremely loud noise" coming from a party boat
off the state park, but seemed uncertain what action they could take.

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