Story by & Photos by
MICHAEL D. WATIKER/THURSTON FIRE PHOTO
BALTIMORE, OH -- Four teens were seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash on State Route 37 late Thursday night, July 25, 2002 in northern Fairfield County, Ohio.
According to the father of three of the teens, the victims were twin sisters Kathy and Kimberly Seager, 17; Matthew Seager Jr., 17, and Jerod Savage, 16, all of Lancaster.
Four helicopters from MedFlight of Ohio flew all four to Grant Medical Center and Children's Hospital, both in Columbus, and all are ACS certified Level 1 trauma centers.
One girl was taken to surgery, and her twin sister and another male were in critical condition at Grant Medical Center. The other male teen was taken to Children's Hospital, and remains in fair condition.
A man in the second vehicle also was injured and taken to Fairfield Medical Center. He was treated and released.
According to Thurston Fire Chief Mike Jackson the crash happened at a railroad crossing in Walnut Township north of the intersection of SR 37 and SR 256, sometime shortly after 10:30 p.m. The four MedFlight BK 117 aircraft arrived on the scene in less than 20 minutes. All victims that were airlifted were in trauma suites less than 60 minutes after the crash occurred.
The four teens were traveling in a Geo Metro driven by Matthew Seager, Jr. Dan Wheeler of Nelsonville, OH, who witnessed the crash, said the Geo Metro was stopped in front of the train tracks waiting for an oncoming train to pass.
According to Wheeler, a Ford F-150 truck came up from behind and struck the Metro, sending it flying over the track gate, which was down.
"There was no brakes, no squeal, no nothing," Wheeler said.
The car came to a rest on the embankment on the opposite side of the road. The truck rammed through the gate and tipped over the right embankment, ending up on its side.
The train passed through the crossing but apparently did not hit either vehicle. The conductor of the train called 911.
Emergency personnel from the Thurston FD, Millersport FD, Pleasantville FD and Basil Fire District responded to the scene. Also present were troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Millersport Chief 631, Robert Price, was the scene's incident command. Chief 630 (Yates) was in charge of overall safety and Firefighter Michael Watiker was the EMS liaison officer and incident photographer.
