Posted 6:15 am Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Responders Pull Trapped Driver From Wreckage On U.S. Highway 271
By DANNY MOGLE
Assistant Managing Editor
Assistant Managing Editor
GILMER -- Mike Melton wasn't sure what to do first -- help the couple with the four young children pulled from the wrecked minivan or tend to the man trapped in the 18-wheeler's mangled cab.
Melton was four miles south of Gilmer on U.S. Highway 271 about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when he drove up on the traffic accident that had just happened.
As chief of the Gilmer Fire Department, he had responded to plenty of wrecks. He knew that this was serious and that help was needed quickly.
He and others called for emergency responders. ETMC sent ambulances from Gilmer and an air ambulance from Tyler.
Melton said he saw first the white Dodge Caravan at the bottom of an embankment on the right side of the highway. The back of the van was smashed inward and a section of the windshield was shattered.
Residents of nearby houses and others had helped remove the occupants -- a couple with four small children.
The woman's chin was bleeding. The children were shaken but none appeared to be severely injured, Melton said about two hours later.
People were comforting and trying to calm the family.
The 18-wheeler was a few hundred yards to the north. The truck's toppled large blue trailer blocked the outside northbound lane. The truck continued through a shallow ditch. It crashed into a utility pole and became entangled in a chain-link fence. A small tree jutted up through the wreckage.
Broken chunks of cab and some its contents were scattered. The cab was severely crumpled and a fraction of its former size.
Inside this tangled mess was the driver. He was trapped. His legs were pinned by the dash that had been pushed back.
"He was conscious and calm," Melton said.
Help soon arrived.
Help soon arrived.
ETMC ambulances rushed two passengers from the van to Good Shepherd Hospital in Longview, said Rebecca Berkley, ETMC spokeswoman. Those at the scene said they did not appear to have suffered serious injuries.
The ETMC air ambulance landed in the parking lot of a Baptist church near the scene.
The DPS, Gilmer police and other law officers directed traffic around the blocked northbound lanes.
Many turned their attention to getting the truck driver out.
Melton put his fellow Gilmer firefighters to work using powerful hydraulic equipment to rip the wreckage away layer by layer.
Jim Rushing was one of those firefighters.
The truck driver's "legs were all pinned up underneath the dash," Rushing said.
The truck driver's "legs were all pinned up underneath the dash," Rushing said.
"He was very calm during the whole ordeal. He was not complaining of being in pain at first."
Emergency responders worked feverishly. A gurney sat waiting at the side of the highway.
Members of the man's family watched the ongoing effort. They often held on to one another.
The man's wife was allowed to briefly speak to him. It was, however, too cramped at the cab and too dangerous to allow her to stay long, Melton said.
The minutes passed.
At one point, about a dozen emergency responders were packed inside or huddled near the cab.
At one point, about a dozen emergency responders were packed inside or huddled near the cab.
Slowly the dashboard was forced off the man's legs.
At 4:58 p.m. the driver was freed.
Men lifted him out and over wreckage and onto the gurney.
Men lifted him out and over wreckage and onto the gurney.
Family members moved forward.
The injured driver spoke to those around him. He reached up and held onto the hand of one of the rescuers as he was wheeled to the air ambulance.
The injured driver spoke to those around him. He reached up and held onto the hand of one of the rescuers as he was wheeled to the air ambulance.
Moments later, the helicopter lifted.
Rushing said it was the longest rescue he had ever been part of.
Rushing said it was the longest rescue he had ever been part of.
"They (rescue workers) did an awesome job," praised DPS Trooper Kenneth Nolley, who is investigating the accident.
Nolley said the van was northbound on U.S. 271 and had slowed to make a right turn onto Eagle Drive when the truck struck it from behind.
The truck driver then lost control.
The identities of those involved were not immediately available and the investigation was continuing Tuesday night.
The identities of those involved were not immediately available and the investigation was continuing Tuesday night.
