BLUEFIELD, W.Va. -- A 24-year veteran with the Bluefield Fire Department was transported to Bluefield Regional Medical Center Sunday evening after a driver slammed his Jeep Cherokee into the door of the No. 3 Fire Station that the firefighter was about to open.
Jim R. "Jimmy" Perkins, a firefighter with the Bluefield Fire Department since 1988, was reaching for the front door of the fire station on Cumberland Road when the driver, who was traveling west on Cumberland Road, left the roadway and smashed straight into the door. The impact of the crash hurled Perkins back into the bay where a fire truck was parked, according to Scotty Dingus, another firefighter who was inside the firehouse when the wreck occurred.
"In another five seconds, he would have been standing between the door and the fire truck. It would have cut Jimmy in half," Dingus said.
Perkins suffered injuries to one of his fingers and his lower leg, according to Chief Kevin Scanlon of the Bluefield Fire Department.
"He was very lucky," Scanlon said. "Another step and it would have been a lot worse."
The impact of the crash knocked the main door of the fire station into the front of the fire truck, damaging the front bumper and the siren on the truck. Police on the scene estimated the damage to the fire truck alone at $4,000, but Scanlon did not speculate as to the extent of the damage.
"Right now, we're hoping that Jimmy will be OK," he said. The Bluefield Rescue Squad transported the veteran firefighter to BRMC. Three Bluefield Rescue Squad units including the squad's crash truck responded to the crash.
Patrolmen R.L. Gibson and N.J. Allen, both of the Bluefield Police Department, were on scene in a matter of minutes.
"At this point, the only thing I can say is the driver was driving west on Cumberland Road, crossed the eastbound lane and ran into the front door of the fire station," Gibson said. "There are no tire marks, and the driver refuses to talk to us. He is presently in custody."
Gibson said the driver was not being cooperative. "He won't tell us his name," Gibson said. He said the driver appeared to be in his mid-30s and said he thought the female passenger was in her 40s. He also said she was complaining of soreness to her neck. Gibson said that the Jeep Cherokee Laredo appeared to be a 1995 or '96 model.
Scanlon said the fire station would be out of service for a period of time. "When we get the engine out, we'll send it over to headquarters," Scanlon said. "We're going to get it out of there tonight," he said.
Copyright 2012 - Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
