Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue firefighters rescued a woman from a car that had rear-ended a large moving truck this morning at the intersection of Highway 217 and the Sunset Highway. The woman was rushed to the Providence St. Vincent Hospital with serious injuries.
Firefighters from TVF&R's West Slope Station 65 were dispatched to the northbound Highway 217 on-ramp to the Sunset Highway at 8:08 a.m. after someone called 9-1-1 reporting a car had impacted the rear of a large truck. Additional 9-1-1 callers reported that the vehicle's driver was trapped inside. A responding battalion chief called for a truck company and a heavy rescue apparatus to assist.
The impact was significant enough that the front of the sedan had driven under rear of the moving truck's trailer. The back of the trailer intruded into the car's passenger compartment, injuring the driver.
Firefighter/paramedics worked quickly to care for the female driver while while a team of firefighters cut off the car's roof and carefully removed the patient. An ambulance rushed her the short distance to Providence Saint Vincent Hospital.
"We train for this kind of rescue regularly, but you don't see a car this far under a trailer very often," says TVF&R Communications Officer Brian Barker, "in this case the car buried its nose under the rear of the trailer. If the car had traveled another inch, the driver may not have survived."
Beaverton Police are investigating the crash.
