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Opinion

Wednesday afternoon’s horrific crash

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Photo by Thomas Parker

Late Wednesday afternoon, I was enjoying supper with friends at their Lake Park home when the call came in and the dispatch tones began to drop for a motor vehicle crash with injuries and the car on fire on Warriors Trail near Bovina. I quickly finished my meal and departed. I notified our administrator, Kelley Branch, and publisher, David Day, of the incident, fully expecting it to end fatally.

I drove carefully to the scene, arriving on the west end of the accident scene in the 5200 hundred block of Warriors Trail. I encountered Chief Deputy Billy Joe Heggins and investigator Todd Dykes who were controlling access from that area of the scene. I listened as Heggins deployed units via radio as the response unfolded. Heggins quickly told me “this is a bad one,” and I could tell by the myriad of emergency vehicles that it definitely was.

Prior to my arrival, I heard Shane Garrard take command via radio. It is protocol that one person assume command and direct emergency response and life saving measures. Garrard not only serves Warren County as 911 director but he is fire chief at the Northeast Fire Department and has been tapped as assistant to Fire Coordinator Jerry Briggs.

There were personnel from every county fire department on scene along with Rescue and two fire medic units from the Vicksburg Fire Department. Fire apparatus from Bovina, Culkin and Fisher Ferry were at the incident.

I watched and listened from a safe distance as these men and women worked to free the victims from the mangled Nissan automobile. A helicopter was dispatched from University Medical Center and the decision was made by Garrard that the golf course at Clear Creek would be the safest place for it to land. Crews worked feverishly to free the victims. A decision was made to bring the flight crew trauma team to the scene to administer medications and assist. Garrard would tell me later in the night that without them, they would have possibly lost the driver.

The passenger was finally freed from the wreckage while efforts to free the driver took well over an hour. The mangled wreckage was wrapped around a tree after striking two other trees broadside. The wreck had ended with the car in a precarious position, and firemen used cribbing (wooden blocks) and jacks, along with the jaws of life and saws, to disassemble the vehicle without further injuring the victims.

The passenger Jamie Dewan Williams, 37, and the driver Tony Wash, 35, are recovering at University Medical Center.

Sheriff Martin Pace said on the night of the accident that speed was definitely a contributing factor in the cause of the crash.

Pace went on to praise the first responders who worked so hard to save the men. 

Three neighbors also were heroes in this incident as they grabbed a garden house and had the fire almost out when Bovina firefighters arrived. 

There were many heroes at work on this scene Wednesday night. It once again proves that the level of cooperation between our city and county fire fighters is saving lives. We should be grateful to all who choose to serve our community.

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