South Carolina Fatal Train Crash Occurs Close To Fire Department; Firefighters Stunned
My husband drove down the hill to see what was wrong and he said he came upon a yellow cloud, said Linda Gray of Graniteville. His training told him it was a chemical leak.
Dwayne Gray, a member of the all-volunteer Graniteville-Vaucluse-Warrenville Fire Department drove on into the cloud for a moment, before throwing his gearshift into reverse and returning home in a tear, Linda Gray said.
He came in screaming, Everybody get out! Everybody get out! she said.
Dwayne Gray is in an Augusta hospital in critical condition, suffering from burning sensations in his chest.
The Norfolk Southern train crash, which has caused eight deaths, occurred practically in the fire departments back yard. The Graniteville station is 300 to 400 feet from the crash site, an area that is still so volatile only those in protective suits may enter.
Five volunteer firefighters from the 40-man unit were hospitalized in the response; two were released and three remain in hospitals.
Chief Phil Napier said Friday he drove through the hot zone once, then unknowingly entered it again.
Unfortunately, five or six of us live in the hot zone, Napier said. They work there, too. Napier operates a florist and hardware business near the crash site.
He went out on the call at 2:39 a.m. Thursday anticipating a train wreck or possibly a head-on collision.
Nothing prepared him for what happened next, though.
After a short drive, he said two men on the railroad flagged him down. As Napier was speaking to one of them, the trains engineer, Christopher Seeling of West Columbia, dropped, he said.
Soon, the other fell.
At about the same time, I felt I couldnt breathe, Napier said.
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