Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District personnel were called to the scene of a non-fatal crash on U.S. Route 62 south of Concord Road in Highland County early Friday morning.
According to Branden Jackman, public information officer for the district, Paint Creek was called at 4:51 a.m. to the crash involving a semi and a small SUV, “with entrapment and possible fire.”
Jackman said emergency crews worked for approximately 30 minutes to cut the driver of the small SUV out of the vehicle. The driver was transported to the hospital at Ohio State University by MedFlight with what Jackman said were non-life threatening injuries.
About half the emergency personnel on scene were off duty and called in from home because additional manpower was needed, according to Jackman. He said crews used two full sets of rescue tools at the same time, one on the driver’s side and one on the passenger side, to free the driver of the small SUV.
According to Jackman, a bystander on their way to work came upon the crash first, found the smoking, mangled SUV on its side, and managed to flip it onto its wheels by himself. The Good Samaritan, Jackman said, also stayed with the trapped person in the SUV and talked to the victim until emergency crews arrived.
Jackman said there were two people in the semi. One refused treatment, he said, and the other was transported to Highland District Hospital.
Emergency crews from Mowrystown and the Highland County North Joint Fire and Ambulance District in Leesburg provided mutual aid.
U.S. 62 was closed to traffic following the crash. An email received from Kathleen Fuller, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 9, at 11:16 a.m. stated that the road was reopened to two lanes of traffic without restrictions.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Friday afternoon that more details of the crash would not be available until Saturday morning.
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
