IOWA - A Woodlawn volunteer fireman died Monday from injuries he received after being struck by two cars while attempting to cross a roadway just east of Iowa inside Jeff Davis Parish.
Glen Taylor, 43, was pronounced dead at 9:22 p.m. at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital where he had been airlifted by Acadian Ambulance Air Med.
State Police Troop D spokesman Stephen LaFargue said the accident occurred at 7:40 p.m. as Taylor was attempting to cross the roadway to return to a firetruck which was parked near the Woods-N-Treasure Trailer Park on La. 3258, also known as the south Frontage Road near Iowa.
"Witnesses told police that for an unknown reason he stepped out into the eastbound traveling lane of the frontage road and was struck by the two eastbound vehicles," LaFargue said.
Taylor was wearing blue jean coveralls and a jacket with no reflective tape.
LaFargue said Taylor was part of a group of firemen from the Jeff Davis Parish Fire District No. 3/ Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Department who were in the area to conduct a nighttime training exercise. The men were traveling in five firetrucks.
He said the trucks were traveling west on the Frontage Road, but had stopped after a chrome battery cover fell off of one of the trucks. Several men had gone to retrieve the cover and were returning to the firetrucks when the accident occurred.
LaFargue said Taylor was first struck by a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Gregory Fontenot, 17, of Lake Charles. He was then struck by a second vehicle, a 2000 Chevrolet Impala driven by Dorothy Corbello, 54, of Lacassine.
Fontenot and Corbello were not injured. They were the only occupants of their vehicles.
The accident remains under investigation by Trooper Jeff Johnson. No citations have been issued and alcohol is not suspected.
LaFargue said this is the 44th fatality of the year for the Troop D area.
