DRIVER EXTRACTED WITH "JAWS" - Vehicle Plunges Over Steep Hill Near LK

(05/27/2002)

Two people received injuries early Monday morning when their vehicle plunged over a steep hill at the intersection of Munday Road and Route 5, west of Big Bend. The driver, identified as Justin Whited, was trapped and had to be extracted from the vehicle by the Jaws and Life, and by members of the Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department and EMS workers. He and a 14-year-old female passenger were taken to Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center for treatment. A source at the scene said "They do not appear to be critically injured," but the nature of their injuries could not be confirmed. At least two firemen were treated on the scene for exhaustion, after working feverishly over the steep hillside. Fireman Curt Garretson was administered oxygen. Rescue workers were on scene for nearly two hours. Fire Chief Dave Johnson helps assemble rescue device Fireman Curt Garretson suffers exhaustion after toting Jaws of Life down steep hillside Emergency workers use pulley system to pull victims to highway The vehicle came to rest about 150 feet over a rocky and brush covered hill near the Little Kanawha River, about 4 a.m. The man was driving from the Munday Road area, and failed to turn left or right on fog-covered Route 5. Firemen lowered rescue baskets over the wooded hill to bring the victims to the highway. Calhoun EMS dispatched two ambulances to the scene, and the Grantsville VFD had two units respond. Calhoun EMS take two victims to MHHCC

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001