Local Firefighters Recall ‘Buffalo Mutual Aid’ After Blizzard of 1977

Bob Davis behind the wheel of a Springs Fire Department fire truck in 1977 as it is loaded onto a military plane in Westhampton, part of an airlift of local volunteer fire crews who went to Buffalo to help the city cope with a severe blizzard that buried fire hydrants and stranded many of the city's fire trucks.

Bob Davis behind the wheel of a Springs Fire Department fire truck in 1977 as it is loaded onto a military plane in Westhampton, part of an airlift of local volunteer fire crews who went to Buffalo to help the city cope with a severe blizzard that buried fire hydrants and stranded many of the city's fire trucks.

Tom Tillinghast atop a snow drift in Buffalo, 1977.

The East Hampton Fire Department pumper truck that was flown to Buffalo in a military aircraft.

Buffalo, 1977

The buffalo head that hangs in the East Hampton Village Emergency Services Building in honor of the local firemen who travels to Buffalo to help the city recover from a historic blizzard.

Members of the Montauk Fire Department load their World War II era fire truck onto a military cargo plane to be flown to Buffalo in February 1977 as part of an effort to help the city cope with a blizzard that dumped more than 100 inches of snow in three days.

East Hampton fireman Tom Tillinghast in Buffalo in February 1977.

Montauk Fire Department volunteers who were dispatched to Buffalo in 1977 were honored by the American Legion for their service. Pictured are, in the back row from left, Frank Ward, MFD Chief Larry Franzone, John Lakeman and American Legion Commander Ralph George and in the front row, Ron Ostoff, left, and Peter Joyce Sr.