By TARA JENNINGSLedger Staff Writertara@gaffneyledger.com

An Asbury-Rehobeth volunteer firefighter who joined his local department after seeing numerous wrecks near his home is asking motorists to use caution when approaching an emergency scene.

This firefighter knows firsthand of what he speaks.

Joel Gaddy, 50, of Pacolet, miraculously suffered no broken bones after he was struck by a pickup truck May 25 while directing traffic around emergency vehicles that had responded to a wildfire off Union Highway about 14 miles south of Gaffney. He might face surgery on his left shoulder. He has limited use of his arm and has a golf ballsized bump on the elbow, possibly the result of a bone chip.

But that’s better than the condition his fellow firefighters found him in after he was hit by the truck. He lost consciousness. He had a bump on his forehead the size of half a grapefruit, he said. Based on those injuries and the damage to the pick-up, he was taken by Regional One to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center where he stayed for two days.

Gaddy was attempting to direct an 18-wheeler around the fire trucks and had moved out of the path of the rig. What Gaddy didn’t see was the 1993 Ford pick-up truck he said was tailgating the 18wheeler. Gaddy said he was struck by the pick-up truck as its driver attempted to pass the tractor trailer after they both cleared the emergency scene.

“We need help,” Gaddy said. “People need to slow down when they come upon an emergency scene.”

Gaddy said other firefighters have had to jump into ditches to avoid oncoming vehicles.

“They’re endangering other people who are just trying to help people,” he said.

Firefighters from AsburyRehobeth, Twin Rivers, Corinth and Goucher-White Plains volunteer fire departments responded to the brush fire about a mile from the Asbury fire station.

If you see emergency vehicles, slow down and use common sense. Watch the road, and expect someone to be standing in the roadway to direct you, firefighters said.