Columbus, OH crash, driver rescued before fire.

Semi Crazy · Aug 15, 2012

http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/aug...downtown-after-crash-hazmat-situa-ar-1135590/

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/08/13/truck-fire-closes-freeway.html

Two off-duty firefighters and a surveyor wielding a sledgehammer pulled a trucker from his wrecked and smoldering cab on I-70 today, just before the rig burst into flames.

The ensuing blaze and hazardous-materials response closed the eastbound lanes of the freeway in Franklinton through the evening rush hour until about 9:30 p.m., causing traffic backups throughout Downtown for much of the day.

Battalion Chief Michael Fowler of the Columbus Division of Fire said the tractor-trailer rolled onto its side just west of Downtown after colliding with a minivan at 11 a.m.

The trucker was not badly hurt but was trapped in his cab when the three bystanders smashed out the windows and freed him.

Two of the men were firefighters. The third was a surveyor who had the heavy hammer with him to drive in stakes while in the field, Fowler said.

One of those firefighters, Dave Fannin, who works for Jackson Township, recalled what happened.

He said he was driving his motorcycle when he saw the minivan in front of him go into the concrete divider, then the tractor-trailer jack-knife.

The saddle tank on the drivers side immediately ruptured, and the cab burst into flames, said Fannin, 42.

Fannin said he ran to the cab. The other off-duty firefighter from Hamilton Township and the man with the sledgehammer ran toward the truck, too.

The truck driver was desperately trying to break his window. Fannin said he grabbed the sledgehammer and broke out the drivers-side window. All three men then pulled out the truck driver.

Within a minute, he said, the cab was engulfed in flames.

We were in the right place at the right time and fortunately had the ability to get him out before the outcome was much different, Fannin said.

The trucker might have died if not for their efforts, Fowler said.

The trucker was shaken up but did not have to be taken to a hospital. The two people in the minivan were taken to Mount Carmel West for treatment of minor injuries, Fowler said.

The truck had a mixed load aboard, but the primary concern for firefighters was a shipment of car batteries. Batteries usually are transported without battery acid, but hazardous-materials crews responded just in case acid was on board and to clean up spilled diesel fuel, fire officials said.

Firefighter Bill Ehrgood, a Fire Division spokesman, said the truck did not have enough materials considered hazardous aboard to be marked with placards identifying its contents.

The trucks manifest and other paperwork burned with the cab, slowing the determination of what was on board, he said.

The crash occurred beneath an old bridge to the Whittier Peninsula, but inspectors with the Ohio Department of Transportation determined it did not suffer structural damage, spokeswoman Nancy Burton said.

The bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic for years, Fowler said.

Dispatch reporter Jim Woods contributed to this story.

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Mr. PlumCrazy · Aug 16, 2012

This is one of the stories where you have to thank firefighters for the work they do and also the surveyor not too many people would climb on a burning truck to save a life

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