JENNIFER COMPSTON
The Intelligencer

Inside: Post/View Condolences

Photo Courtesy of The Intelligencer Clifford White, 21, was killed when the tanker truck he was riding in overturned and slid down a steep embankment.

An accident that resulted in the death of a Cameron volunteer firefighter Monday remains under investigation by the Marshall County Sheriff's Department.

Clifford White, 21, was killed when the tanker truck he was riding in overturned and slid down a steep embankment. The driver of the truck, 32-year-old John Alley, was seriously injured in the crash and transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown by medical helicopter. Alley is currently listed in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

According to Cameron Fire Chief Larry Hartley, the two firefighters were responding to a call for mutual assistance with a brush fire that had been reported in northern Wetzel County when the accident occurred. Hartley added that, while White had only been serving with the department for a short time, Alley is a veteran member of the Cameron VFD.

Hartley said the two had been riding in a tanker truck that was traveling south on Reid Ridge when it left the roadway and overturned, landing on its top and sliding 40-50 feet down a steep embankment. The tank, which Hartley estimated contained about 2,000 gallons of water, became detached from the truck and slid down the embankment, coming to rest at the edge of Fish Creek.

Hartley said White was riding in the passenger seat of the truck when the accident occurred. He added that Alley, the driver, was conscious and talking to his rescuers following the accident.

Hartley also said the department was fortunate not to have lost two firetrucks and several men in the accident. He explained that the tanker truck was traveling to the brush fire with the engine company. The engine, which was traveling in front of the tanker, had just completed a horseshoe turn at the junction of Reid Ridge and Fish Creek Road between the communities of Adaline and Bellton, bringing it back into the path of the rolling tanker.

The engine stopped just yards beyond the point where the tanker came to rest on the hillside and not far from the point where the massive water tank had crossed the roadway on its way down the embankment and into the creek.

Firefighters and emergency medical personnel from the Cameron VFD and the Robert's Ridge VFD responded to the scene of the accident, along with representatives of Tri-State Ambulance Service. An officer with the Cameron Police Department also was on hand. Also responding to the accident were several sheriff's department investigators and Sheriff Matt Clark.