D.J. Caulfield
D.J. Caulfield’s professional photo career began in 1966 with a position as chief photographer and darkroom supervisor for a twice-weekly newspaper on the East End of Long Island, NY, eventually being elevated to photo editor. He later formed a regional news service, ELI News Bureau, and realized a need to creatively compete with other newspaper photographers. D.J. became what is known in the trade as a 'Nightcrawler,' a late-night photo specialist who monitored police and fire frequencies trying to capture images the off-duty staff photographers wouldn't normally cover. Among the most renowned of the New York area Nightcrawlers was Arthur Fellig, known as Weegee, who plied his press trade in the 1930s and '40s before relocating to Hollywood. D.J. was always inspired by Weegee's tenacious work ethic and photographic techniques. This NPC series is dedicated to his memory.
Electronic images
Destruction on Dune Road
A nor'easter crept into Westhampton Beach, NY in the early 1970s and disassembled a number of homes fronting onto the Atlantic Ocean. This was one of the early victims.
A buddy and I waited for about an hour for this two-story home to be completely destroyed. Shortly after this shot, the last of the structure collapsed, leaving nothing but a dangling staircase. My friend and I were mesmerized by the violence and hadn't noticed that the sea had broken through the barrier beach about a quarter mile from our location and started to overwash the only road back to the mainland. We beat a hasty, yet careful, retreat through that flooded section of Dune Road to the comfort of the village -- and at least a couple of libations.
Packed wagon
The driver of an unusually tightly packed station wagon found himself wedged in the front seat of his vehicle compounding the challenge for the Rescue Team.
Montauk Highway in East Quogue, NY is treacherous for most late-night drivers, but this fellow had quite an assortment of personal possessions around him, including a full-size metal garbage can, posing added difficulty to the extrication. He was carted off to the hospital before I could ask for an explanation.
Quiogue Blaze
The East End hamlet of Quiogue NY is a bucolic mix of dwellings so this fire that totally consumed one of the larger homes drew lots of fire apparatus and resident attention.
My police scanner bleated out a notification around 10 p.m. of a particularly large fire in the Long Island NY hamlet of Quiogue. One of the estate homes along the creek was fully consumed. My norm would have been to jump in my car to speed to the location, but this was less than a few hundred yards from my house. The fire took well into the next morning to extinguish. Fortunately, the house was not occupied but it was a total loss.
Spinning Volks
Driver was bounced around but remained in spinning vehicle in Hampton Bays NY weekend crash
I arrived after the driver had been transported to the hospital, but the Southampton Town officers told me the skid marks and destruction to the rear of the Volkswagen indicated the car had spun around at least twice on Montauk Highway before coming in contact with a stand of trees. It was around 1-1:30 a.m. when I heard the first call over the scanner.