2009-07-29 / Front Page
Fire truck overturns en route to blaze
Fire truck overturns en route to blaze
By TIM GULLA
Ledger Staff Writer
tim@gaffneyledger.com
Though soaking wet and standing under an ominous sky that repeatedly flashed lightning, Blacksburg Fire Chief Clay Greer was able to breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday night that none of his men had been injured.
The Blacksburg Fire Department's Rescue 91 truck, which carries all of the department's rescue equipment, set out in the middle of a torrential downpour Tuesday evening in response to a structure fire off Bachelor Road.
Greer said the truck was heading south on Highway 29 out of Blacksburg when it apparently hit standing water at the bottom of the hill near the Food Lion market at the Family Dollar store. The driver of the truck lost control and slid off the roadway, turning 180 degrees before the truck flipped onto its side along the highway.
"I'm just glad everybody's OK," Greer said.
Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department Chief Josh Parker, whose department was dispatched to the fire truck wreck, said the driver of the Blacksburg fire truck was able to get out of the vehicle under his own power. He was not injured.
Greer said Tuesday night as a large wrecker righted the overturned vehicle that it was too soon to tell how badly the truck was damaged.
Once the truck was removed from the side of the road, firefighters immediately went to work pulling all of the gear out of the truck and looking for gear that had spilled out and become embedded in the mud alongside the roadway.
The Rescue 91 truck, a 1996 International, was filled with rescue equipment like hydraulic extrication devices, air packs and tanks and all sorts of ropes, straps and tools.
The wreck wasn't initially called out as a wreck of a fire truck.
Parker said his crew learned that it was a Blacksburg truck while they were headed to the scene. Any wrecks involving an emergency vehicle are hard-hitting to emergency responders, he acknowledged.
"That's one of your brothers," he said. "You've got to get there."
At the same time, he said, everyone made sure to keep a measured pace in their response. "You can't help anybody if you're involved (in an accident), too."
Greer said the damage would likely be assessed Wednesday, once the truck could be towed from the scene and examined in daylight.
The Blacksburg Fire Department was headed to a structure fire on Silver Ridge Road, which runs off Bachelor l See TRUCK, Page 5A Road, at the time of the accident.
Chief Kenneth Manning of the CKC Volunteer Fire Department said the wooden structure on Silver Ridge Road was fully engulfed upon his department's arrival. While it appeared the structure had at one time been used as a home, since it had a chimney, he said it was believed the structure was currently being used for storage.
The property owners weren't immediately available.
The location of the fire was on the top of a hill and it occurred at about the height of the thunderstorm rolling through the area, Manning said, leading firefighters to believe it had been sparked by lighting.
Manning said the storm conditions were very heavy when the fire call went out and said it was difficult driving to the location due to the heavy rain and poor visibility. Luckily, the lightning subsided a little by the time CKC firefighters reached the scene, he said.
Also, a hydrant was located close to the burning structure so there were no issues getting water to the scene.
Knowing a Blacksburg truck was involved in an accident trying to reach the scene, Manning was relieved the Blacksburg firefighter was uninjured.
"We can replace trucks," he said, "as long as nobody got hurt."
The stretch of Highway 29 where the accident occurred was closed for several hours until the scene could be cleared. The South Carolina Highway Patrol responded to investigate the wreck.
