Probe underway in reservoir accident

Woodbridge man who died in Seymour remembered as helpful community member
By Susan Hunter, Editor
Valley Gazette

SEYMOUR - Family and friends speak fondly of Woodbridge resident GeorgeRumbold, 66, who died Nov. 13 after his car skidded off the road and slid into the Peat Swamp Reservoir. Police are trying to piece together the events that led to the untimely death.

The state Medical Examiner has ruled accidental asphyxia due to drowning as the cause of Rumbold's death. He died at Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to Seymour police, hours after being pulled from his pick-up truck, which was submerged in the reservoir.

Police and fire department personnel and emergency medial technicians responded to the accident on Haddad Road at about 10:50 a.m. A passerby had called police after finding the fence down at the reservoir, which is operated by Birmingham Utilities, and discovering the truck overturned in the water. The passerby tried unsuccessfully to get Rumbold out of the pick-up truck and called 911. [This man, Marlow Tinari returning from New Haven, was first on the scene and called 911. He took it upon himself to jump into the water and up onto the overturned truck with hammer in hand. His attempts to break the glass were unsuccessful due to the resistance of the water. He could not see through the water due to the oil and gasoline floating in the water. George carried cans of gasoline for his chain saws. Bob Anastasio, George's good friend from the transfer station arrived shortly after but did not recognize his friend's overturned truck. He left the scene as emergency personnel arrived. - John Rumbold]

Police and emergency crews tried to pry the passenger side door open with crowbars, also without success. Then an American Automobile Association tow-truck driver, who learned of the accident while he was parked at a Seymour business, used the winch from his truck to hook onto the side of the pick-up and move it closer to shore. This enabled fire department responders to use the jaws of life to pry the driver's side door open, according to reports.

Ken Woodward, the tow truck driver, said the Seymour business owner heard about the accident over a police scanner and alerted Woodward. He said he had worked in the Amity area and knew the location of the reservoir. "I had a vehicle that could possibly help them," Woodward said, so he drove out to the accident site.

Using his winch cable and j-hooks, he pulled the pick-up truck out of the water so volunteer workers could free the driver's side door. When the pick-up truck crashed into the water, it turned upside down, crushing the roof and jamming the doors, Woodward said. "I was bummed out that he didn't make it," Woodward said. "I have to commend the Seymour volunteer firefighters. They jumped in and did what they had to do and put themselves at risk."

Rumbold was extricated from the truck and given advanced life support by Seymour Ambulance Association personnel. He regained a pulse after arriving at the hospital, police said, and was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit. He died late that afternoon.

According to a preliminary investigation, police said Rumbold's vehicle, a 1990 Ford F-250 pick-up truck, was traveling in a southeasterly direction on Haddad Road. For an unknown reason, the pick-up truck failed to negotiate acurve, said Seymour Police Lt. Paul Satkowski, and left the travel portion of the roadway.

It slid down an embankment, overturned and landed in about four to six feetof water, trapping Rumbold inside.

The road surface was wet at the time from recent rains and covered with leaves and pine needles. "Speed is not considered to be a factor at thistime," Satkowski said.

A familiar face in town
Rumbold's son-in-law, Dennis Blandino, said his father-in-law would have gone out of his way to help, as Woodward did, had he found someone in trouble. "He would have done something," Blandino said. "He wouldn't turn his back on anybody."

Blandino and his wife, Laurie Rumbold Blandino, Rumbold's daughter, live inWhite Bear Lake, MN.

In their grief, they are trying to make sense of the tragedy that took the life of the grandfather of their young children.

Rumbold loved his country, Blandino said, and wouldn't think twice before writing letters to government leaders about the loss of American manufacturing jobs and other issues.

His strong views were always tempered by tact and a good-natured acceptance of other people's viewpoints. "I don't know anybody more patriotic than George was," Blandino said.

Friends, family and acquaintances are struggling to understand how a man so familiar with Haddad Road, who typically drove slowly and was safety conscious, could have met with such a fate.

"He was a religious zealot about wearing a seat belt," said Joe Hellauer, administrative officer for Woodbridge. "I feel badly for him. It's a toughway to go."

Rumbold was well-known in Woodbridge for delivering wood, pruning trees and trimming hedges.

Because of the nature of his work, he often made several daily trips to the Woodbridge landfill and was probably on one of those trips when his car left the roadway last Tuesday, Hellauer said.

Rumbold had worked in a managerial capacity for U.S. Electrical Motors, formerly in Milford, Hellauer said, and for the past several years, he was self-employed as a handyman.

He did yard work for the Hellauers a few times a year, and was on their property just two weeks ago Sunday trimming apple trees.

A Seymour police department reconstructionist is investigating the accident, Satkowski said. There are no known witnesses to the crash. Anyone who was traveling in the area of Haddad Road before the accident or who may have seen something is asked to call the Seymour Police Dept. at 881-7600 and ask to speak with Sgt. David Parratt, the lead investigator.

A memorial service for Rumbold took place at Trinity Evangelical Church in Woodbridge on Monday. An obituary appears in today's issue of the ValleyGazette.