Just before 3 p.m. on June 16, Portland Eng. 2, Truck 2 and several pieces from PDX (Portland International Airport) were dispatched to a crash around 7800 NE Marine Drive.
Marine Drive is a two-lane road that runs east to west between the Columbia river and PDX, and is notorious for bad accidents. This was one of the worst. A small sports car had crossed the center line and hit a trailer truck head-on. The car was pushed back about 50 feet, and the truck then continued over the car and narrowly missed a parked van containing several disabled people who were plane-watching.
Portland station 2 is also the Training Center, and it was a new batch of recruits' second day riding the apparatus. They wear the black helmets you see in the photos.
The 23-year-old driver was killed instantly and was deeply embedded in the wreckage. Extrication could only be started after the police finished their investigation, nearly two hours later. Once started, it took about 45 minutes to recover the victim.
