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Story and photos by Bob Bartosz, Nash County (NC) Fire Photographer
On November 15 at 9:26 a.m., Nash County (NC) 911 center received calls for a bad accident on highway 58 with people trapped. Station 15 Coopers Fire and Rescue along with two Nash County EMS units were dispatched. First-in fire units reported they had a large log truck overturned with large logs all over the highway and a SUV with two adults and a small two-year-old child in it The car was now upright with no entrapment. North Carolina State Highway Patrol were now on location.
Trooper Howald said the driver of the SUV was deemed at fault in the accident and was charged with failure to yield and driving without a license. The family’s SUV pulled out of a convenience store parking lot in front of the log truck, which was fully loaded with large logs.
“There was just not enough time for the driver of the log truck to respond,” Howald said the log truck rear-ended the SUV, sending it into the ditch, where it overturned. The log truck then jack-knifed and overturned in the same ditch.
“The accident looked a lot worse than it was,” Howald said. “Everyone ended up mainly with cuts, bumps, and bruises. They were all very lucky.”
The young couple, two-year-old child, and the log truck driver were taken to the hospital. Authorities said that everyone was expected to make a full recovery. The highway was closed for more than three hours while workers removed the large logs off of it. The Nash County Sheriff’s Office and Nash County Emergency Services also aided in responding to the accident.
