Crime & Safety

Upper Macungie Fire And Rescue Units Overcome Daunting Task In Lowhill Township Accident

Rescue of man and woman whose car was crushed by a tractor-trailer was a Herculean effort.

Upper Macungie Township fire and rescue units faced a daunting task Friday morning, one that Fire Commissioner Grant Grim thought would have a very different outcome.

A Wal-Mart tractor-trailer carrying food on pallets slammed into a sedan at the intersection of Route 100 and Kernsville Road in Lowhill Township at 10:45 a.m. Friday, crushing the car and trapping its two occupants.

"It was unique. In 30 years, I've never seen anything to this degree," Grim said. "I was expecting fatalities."

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The automobile's passengers, a man and woman, were pinned under the weight of the tractor-trailer, but were alive and speaking when first responders arrived on the scene, Grim said.

"Both of them were talking. The female stopped talking after awhile," Grim said.

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Units from Goodwill Fire Co. #1 of Trexletown and Fogelsville Volunteer Fire Company were dispatched along with companies from Schnecksville, Lower Macungie Township, Tri-Clover Fire Department in addition to a slew of other mutual aid assistance.

The problems responders faced were twofold -- rendering first aid to the victims while trying to extricate them from a vehicle with the crushing weight of a tractor-trailer on its roof.

"One of the problems was that the load the truck was carrying, about 40,000 pounds, was so heavy that it made the rescue worse," Grim said. "We needed to lift and stabilize the truck."

Large air bags were deployed to assist in lifting the tractor-trailer up off the top of the automobile, so crews could access the victims and begin the extrication process.

"Two of the tow trucks from Atlas Towing were used as cranes and the air bags were inflated underneath and acted just like pillows of rubber," Grim said. "We felt if we lifted the truck too much, it might become unstable. We wanted this operation to be as safe as possible."

Still, the magnitude of the wreckage made the extrication process tricky.

"This was no regular Jaws of Life cut out. We had to disassemble the entire car," Grim said.

That meant taking the bolts off what remained of the car's front door and removing one seat to get to the first passenger. Then, crews needed to remove the console between the seats to finally extricate the other passenger.

Both were evacuated by helicopter to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. Their condition is unknown and the accident remains under investigation by State Police at Fogelsville.

The entire process from first response to extrication took one hour and 15 minutes; 45 minutes to rescue one passenger and an additional 30 minutes to extricate the second.

"They were very fortunate. We didn't expect this kind of outcome," Grim said.

Grim said fire, medical and EMS departments train extensively for this type of heavy rescue situation.

"This was exceptional work between medical, fire and rescue teams," Grim said. "What was amazing to me was how companies from so far away got together and got the job done."


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