Log Rolling - 08/30/2001 Fort Kent Fire and Rescue Gold Pin Award Recipients: Rudy Martin Dan Marquis Denis Paradis Dalen Boucher Cecil Hafford Ryan Boucnard Jeff Bernier Jason Lagasse Mike Dumond Rosaire Martin Dispatch On August 30, 2001, at 07:04 hrs, Fort Kent Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a tractor-trailer rollover, 30 plus miles outside of Allagash, ME. Rescue 1 rolled out of the station at 07:08 hrs. with firefighters Rudy Martin and Ryan Bouchard. They were followed by five other firefighters in their private vehicles. After 30 minutes of travel they arrived on the scene. On Scene As they surveyed the scene they saw that they had a fully loaded log truck on its side, with tree length wood scattered about the scene. The truck had rolled onto the driver’s side and slid about 30 feet. The wood slid forward, pushing the headboard of the trailer into the cab, partially crushing it from the back, while the front of the cab was pushed backward from the impact of the rollover. Securing the Scene Much to their surprise, the driver was still alive, but in serious condition. During their initial size-up, they found that the driver’s side saddle tank was leaking fuel. Jeff Bernier and Ryan Bouchard used their Holmatro cutters to slice through the bands holding the tank to the truck and removed the tank from the hazard area. Second Surprise While surveying their options they considered accessing the driver through the top side of the truck (passenger’s door). Looking in from the top, they were surprised to notice that the truck had rolled onto the guard rail and approximately 30 feet of it had accordioned inside the cab of the truck, pinning the driver’s legs between the guardrail, seat and driver’s door. Plan "A" Using their Holmatro lifting bags, cribbing and a crane, they tried lifting the truck to make the necessary cuts to free the patient. However, because of the teetering position of the truck on the guardrail, combined with the unstable wood load, this operation was considered too unstable and they decided to try a different approach Plan "B" Using blocking, chains and their Holmatro ram to provide stabilization, they carefully began cutting away the logs from behind the cab. With assistance from woodcutters and truck drivers at the scene, they cut away enough logs to gain access to the trailer’s headboard and the back of the truck cab. Using their Holmatro cutters, Denis Paradis and Cecil Hafford began cutting the cross pieces out of the headboard, but the main frame was beyond the cutting capacity, so they decided to remove the whole headboard by cutting the “U” bots and lifting it away with the crane. This provided clear access to the cab. Patient Access Attacking the cab from the back and through the floorboard, Ryan, Rudy, Jeff and Jason opened up the space where the paramedic and driver were, allowing them to begin disentanglement from the guardrail, clutch and brake pedals. With no room for their hydraulic cutters, their sawsall was used to free the driver’s feet from the pedals. After cutting the seat away from the cab, they were able to carry the driver over the pile of logs and loaded him into the ambulance. Rescued Almost three hours after dispatch, the extrication was completed at 09:55 hrs. The driver sustained a broken hip, compound fractures on each leg, with one of his legs broken in multiple places. Later that afternoon, the hospital reported his condition stable and he is expected to make a full recovery. Lessons Learned Commenting on the incident, Fort Kent Fire and Rescue stated that they train with their rescue tools on a regular basis. and can “man handle any car or pickup that we tackle, but this was our first tractor trailer accident and it was a good learning experience for us. We just wish we could have practiced on trucks and other heavy equipment before this. We realize no two accidents are alike, but this was our most challenging by far.”