45°
STAMFORD, Conn. The officers who helped rescue several boaters following a crash Sunday night in Stamford Harbor were honored Wednesday during a ceremony at Czescik Marina.
New Rochelle Firefighter Keith Morris, who was operating the 27-foot Sea Ray at the time of the crash, was killed, and state medical examiners said the cause of death was drowning. Morris' brother Drew and three of his friends, Dinorah Viaira, Anthony Basile and Kristina Caldararo, were rescued by police and emergency personnel from several departments in Fairfield County and Oyster Bay, L.I.
"No one person, no one community executed this rescue," said Stamford Deputy Fire Chief Trevor Roach. "This was truly a team effort."
Fire and Rescue divers Joe Maida and Bill O'Connell from Stamford, and Dan Ehret from Darien, were singled out for heroism in rescuing Viaira and Basile, who were trapped for more than 40 minutes under the capsized boat. The two were able to survive in an air pocket.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," said O'Connell, a 10-year veteran who sliced his left hand in the rescue. "It's a situation I've never been in before."
The fact that there was no light in the air pocket and scattered debris in the water made rescuing Viaira and Basile particularly difficult, and divers had to instruct the two in how to breathe using oxygen tanks. The divers had to pass the breathing apparatus to them through a small opening and then convince them to swim out of the air pocket through the debris.
"More time was spent trying to calm these people down and instruct them in how to breathe through a respirator, which was difficult," Roach said.
Caldararo and Drew Morris were thrown from the boat and rescued in the open water by Oyster Bay emergency personnel.
Keith Morris's body was discovered about 12 hours later under about 15 feet of water in the harbor. Initial reports erroneously indicated that his body was found in 58 feet of water.
The wrecked boat is being examined by state marine authorities as part of its investigation into the crash, a process that could take weeks or months to complete.
"At this point the Boating Accident Reconstruction Unit is working on the investigation. Until they reach a conclusion, there really isn't anything else to release," Capt. Raul Camejo of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wrote in an email. "We don't put information out a little at a time. We prefer to wait until we have a completed investigation with a solid conclusion."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
