Responders perform Jaws of Life extrication after truck rolls

WASHINGTON COUNTY — A driver appeared to escape serious injury after sliding off the roadway and rolling his truck into an embankment.

Emergency responders work to extricate a man from a rolled truck, Washington County, Utah, Jan. 19, 2017 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

Utah Highway Patrol responded to the incident at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday.

A man driving a blue Chevrolet pickup truck was preparing to merge from the Hurricane on-ramp onto Interstate 15 from state Route 9, UHP Sgt. Jake Hicks said.

“He started to accelerate, and due to the rains on the road, he lost control of his vehicle and rolled – unknown how many times,” Washington City Fire Capt. Kohl Furley said.

The truck came to rest upright on its wheels, but the driver was trapped inside the crunched cab, unable to get out on his own.

See video in the media player top of this report.

Emergency and medical services from Washington City Fire and Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue departments worked quickly to extricate the man.

A Chevrolet pickup truck is severely damaged after rolling, Washington County, Utah, Jan. 19, 2017 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

The task was complicated by the condition of the truck, requiring rescuers to utilize hydraulic rescue tools, or Jaws of Life, to open up the crushed cab. It took approximately 40 minutes to ease the man out of the truck.

The driver was in stable condition and was speaking to responders while they worked. Once released, he was loaded onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance for treatment.

“He’s going to go to the hospital for precautionary reasons, but he should be fine,” Hicks said. “Little bit of pain, as you can imagine, from this type of crash.”

The crash occurred during a heavy rainstorm, creating muddy, wet conditions in the embankment.

The man was wearing his seat belt at the time of the rollover and may otherwise have been thrown from the vehicle, Hicks said.

The truck was severely damaged but the cab kept shape just enough to protect the driver in his seated position.

Wrecker employees clean up the scene of a rollover, Washington County, Utah, Jan. 19, 2017 | Photo by Joseph Witham, St. George News

Pieces of the truck, including one of its wheels, lay strewn about several yards from the site of the rollover.

Responding employees from a wrecker quickly picked up the wreckage and towed the totaled truck.

No other vehicles were involved and traffic flowed mostly unimpeded.

Washington City Police also responded to the incident.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Ed. note: CORRECTION made: This report on first publish identified the blue pickup truck as a Ford; it was in fact a Chevrolet. Report revised accordingly.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • Who January 20, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    If it had been a Ford he probably wouldn’t have been as lucky!!!

    • .... January 21, 2017 at 10:13 am

      Really ? you don’t get out much do you !

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