Ring Ring Ring
Me, at work, at 7:30 Monday morning: Hello?
Todd: Turn on channel 2. I’m busy, gotta go!
TV turned on, see HPFD guys at a semi wreck/fire and Dad’s truck parked in the interstate median.
Me, to myself: Holy crap!
There’s bad karma snaking along St. Louis interstates recently… bad karma in the form of awful accidents, usually involving construction zones and big tractor-trailers. And usually stemming from what we all know– people driving down the road don’t pay attention!
While I was at work, I learned from channel 2 that this occurred about a mile off the Pierron exit ramp on Interstate 70 and that there was significant fire involved. I figured out that Todd didn’t get off work at Highland EMS at 7am like he was scheduled. Beyond that, I was clueless.
After what felt like an hour, the timeclock at work read 8:00 and I was outta there. I called my dad, feeling pretty certain he wouldn’t answer (I also knew from channel 2 that he was a tad busy at the time)… but he did answer! I let him know I was leaving Carlyle and asked if there was anything I could do, to which he replied that they could use more bottled water and extra foam from the firehouse. Oh, did you know it was hot on Monday?
I made a quick trip to the Super Valu in Carlyle for 2 cases of water and a bag of ice. Confident that state troopers were probably tied up in whatever was going on with the accident, I made pretty good time heading towards home and pulled the car right into an empty bay at the firehouse– rock star parking. Within about 5 minutes I had the only truck left in the firehouse (yay for having a truck with lights! I’m sure I would’ve had to answer some questions pulling onto a shut-down interstate in my Pontiac) loaded with a cooler of water and 5 jugs of foam. I was pretty excited that I didn’t miss out on everything because of work.
It didn’t take long to unload about 24 bottles of the water to all the guys who’d been on-scene for almost 2 hours, in full bunker gear, and fighting a hot fire. And those who turned down my initial offer at an ice-cold bottle changed their mind within another half hour, as did all the state guys who were out there sweating their butts off too.
While talking with everyone on-scene, I finally got the whole story. Our fire department, along with Highland EMS (Todd), got called out before 7am to a single-vehicle tractor-trailer accident. The driver may have had a medical problem that caused him to wreck. Traffic was slowing for the accident scene. On the interstate particularly, it seems like people do one of 2 things: speed up and hope to get around it (don’t want to be late for work!) or slow down to gawk and take a cell phone pic. The second accident occurred just after a handful of our HPFD guys passed the exact spot– a semi didn’t notice traffic slowed in front of him and plowed on through, causing a wreck involving 3 semi trucks and a wee-little pickup truck. Thanks be to God that none of our guys ended up being involved.
This is the wee-little truck. When I saw this truck from the helicopters covering the wreck before I got off work, I thought “that guy’s dead.” Instead, this guy is a lucky feller– he received only minor injuries. I was told that as soon as HPFD guys used some extrication tools to help get him out, he RAN. Can’t blame him; he could probably feel the heat from the fire behind him!
Anyway, we had guys heading to the initial wreck and then this happened. There were apparently a couple decent sized explosions, a mushroom cloud of smoke, and an anonymous Chief who keyed up his radio and said “Shit’s blowing up!” Suddenly the initial wreck was small peas compared to this pile-up. The ambulance transported the driver from the initial wreck, we had enough guys to help EMS there, and then we used everyone and a handful of ambulances to deal with the burning mess.
By the time I got there, the fire was out, the ambulances all transported, and a third accident involving a motorcycle slamming into the backend of a semi had occurred. Once again, caused from too much looking and not enough driving.
While we played the waiting game with clean-up and managing some smoldering hot spots, we watched the traffic cruising the eastbound lanes. And it was horrifying! Like I said, some people are moving fast and some people are trying to take a picture. Trust me– I know the feeling of “I want to see” and “Wow that’s bad”. But I also know how dangerous it can be. I saw people with their heads out their window looking backwards at the wreck, while the rest of traffic is travelling highway speeds. We’re lucky we didn’t end up with ten times as many accidents between the fast people and the slow people. Please don’t fly by us at 80 mph, but please don’t jeopardize yourself at 20 mph either.
Unfortunately there were 2 deaths, a driver and passenger in the “Butternut Bread” semi whose cab was engulfed in flames after impact. Thankfully the rest of the people involved were all very lucky. It was a stinkin’ hot day, but we managed it the best we could with shade and bottles of water (the 48 bottles I brought were gone by 10am… more were emptied before I got there, and a good dent was put into the water and Powerade that were brought after 10am). At 11:20 we were cleared from the scene and returned to the firehouse, where we cleaned-up equipment and sat down to a lovely lunch. Thanks to Mary & Joe Jackson who grilled burgers for everyone, Grandma who always has a cake ready, and Deb Johnson who came with lots more fixin’s. HPFD got called out again around 3pm to wash down the interstate once the wreck had been completely towed away, and then the interstate was finally reopened.
Here’s what we learned:
- People are dangerous on an interstate.
- A call isn’t always what you first respond to.
- Keep lots of bottled water on the trucks… and lots of extra at the station.
- Be nice to those who will make you lunch when you’re hot, tired, and hungry!
- If the Chief swears on the radio, we’re probably going to need everybody’s help.
The Pleasant Farm 
Recent Comments