On January 2, 2007 at 8:00 pm the City of Chattanooga Firefighters with Quint 12, Squad 1 and Squad 2 were dispatched with Hamilton County EMS to an accident with entrapment on Dallas Road near Sylvan Street in North Chattanooga. When Quint 12 arrived on the scene, they reported a pickup truck on it’s top on fire. Firefighters also reported one person was out of the vehicle and one person was still trapped under the vehicle. Within seconds, Squad 1 arrived on the scene and quickly started preparing for the extrication. Meanwhile, firefighters with Quint 12 extinguished the fire.
Rescuers quickly determined this was going to be a rather complex and lengthy extrication. With a need for additional man power and equipment, rescuers called for and additional squad to the scene. Squad 2 arrived on the scene in short order and started assisting with extrication efforts. Paramedics had already started treating the woman that was already out of the vehicle when firefighters arrived. She was loaded into a Hamilton County EMS unit and transported to Erlanger Medical Center. She was believed to be in critical condition.
Chattanooga Firefighters had to set up a rather complex cribbing and rigging system to free the man that was trapped partially under the overturned pickup truck. To make the extrication even more difficult the side of the truck he was trapped under was also the same side of the truck that was smashed against the second tree. However, Rescuers were able to free the man after about 40 minutes. Paramedics with Hamilton County EMS quickly took over patient care. The man was rushed to Erlanger Medical Center in extremely critical condition.
The vehicle was a full size pickup truck and witnesses said it had been involved in a hit and run accident just a short time before this crash. Witnesses said the pickup truck was traveling north on Dallas Road at a high rate of speed went it clipped a tree in the median area. Witnesses then said the truck flipped over on it's top and then struck another tree. City of Chattanooga Police Departments Traffic Division is investigating the crash.
