PHOENIX, ARIZONA, FIREFIGHTERS were on the scene of a working fire Monday night around 10 pm Mountain when a man drove his car into the rear of one of the engines that were staged at the scene.
KPHO-TV
Damage was minimal to both vehicles and fortunately the driver piled into the tailboard just before the pump operator had stepped into the area to connect his supply line.
The fire was in a top floor storage room of a 2-story commercial facility and was easily handled with a single hose line. The driver of the car was arrested for DUI and given a free ride in a police cruiser.
It was delivered nine years and 364 days after Police Officer Jason Schechterle was pulled from his crushed and burning cruiser.
An out-of-control cab slammed into Officer Schechterle's Ford Crown Victoria cruiser.
Right in front of Phoenix Engine 5.
It was 11:21 p.m.
Suddenly, there was a fireball.
Capt. Michael Ore’s crew jumped out of the engine and began unraveling the hose.
Then Ore saw the flashing lights. “We’re on the scene of a 962 …!” he shouted into the radio, giving the code for an accident with injuries. “Give me a first-alarm medical. Police car involved.”
And then: “Trapped victim!”
Flames licked at the broken frame of the patrol car, its back seat crushed by the impact.
“Hurry up!” he yelled to his crew. “There’s a man burning to death in there!”
Darren Boyce aimed the hose inside the car, while rookie Henry Narvaez fought to open the driver’s door. “I can’t get it open!”
Ore tossed an ax to Narvaez, who broke through the window. Boyce kept the flames at bay, but the front seat was smoldering beneath the smoke and steam. The stench of melted plastic filled Ore’s nostrils as he and Narvaez tugged at the officer, fighting to free him.
But he was still strapped into his seat belt, and they couldn’t get to the latch.
“Get a knife!” Ore screamed.
A policeman who’d just arrived sliced through the seat belt, while a second officer loosened the legs. Together the men pulled the officer through the window just as an ambulance drove up.
As they shoved him onto the gurney, a piece of skin peeled off the officer’s arm — revealing a small patch of white on an otherwise blackened man. Ore, a 26-year veteran, was stricken.
“I’m not sure we did this guy a favor,” he thought as the ambulance pulled away.
In addition to fuel tank rupture, a high speed rear end collision jams the front doors of the cruiser. The burning officer is trapped.
It took Engine 5 and fellow Phoenix police officers about eight minutes to get Schechterle out of his cruiser.
You are Fit For Duty (really?)
The unusual memento was a letter from the Industrial Commission of Arizona, signed by Antonio Escobar, Awards Specialist II.
Escobar informed Schechterle, who was burned beyond recognition in the crash and has undergone more than 50 surgeries in the past decade, that he is fit for duty as a cop.
"Information in your file indicates that your injury is not affecting your earning ability at this time," the state employee wrote. "If you have any questions about your award, we will be glad to explain anything that seems unclear."
…
"No permanent work restrictions noted."
Then came the bureaucratic kicker: "There are no medical contraindications which would preclude [Schechterle] from returning to the same or similar work, thereby sustaining no loss of earning capacity."
Laura McGrory, director of the Industrial Commission, told New Times "Jason doesn't have to do anything. We will re-evaluate his case, period, and go from there. Let's just call this a teaching moment."
Since the crash, Schechterle has made many teaching moments to support others.
“The one true blessing we have, the one thing we have control of, is our attitude. It’s the only thing you have control of, every single day, every situation. You get to decide what your attitude is going to be” – Jason Schechterle
A 42-YR.-OLD MAN WHO WAS TEACHING his teenage son to drive was killed Friday when the boy crashed the car.
KNXV-TV
The 15-yr.-old lad who has a valid learner’s permit, was driving in Phoenix, Arizona, with his father in the front seat mentoring his driving. When he came to an intersection to make a left turn, instead of waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear, the boy turned into the path of a pickup truck that was towing an empty horse trailer. The truck crushed the passenger’s side of the car killing the father instantly.
KPHO-TV has the video report:
The boy remains in the hospital in serious condition as the police determine whether or not to file charges against him.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, FIREFIGHTERS WERE CALLED to a house fire shortly before 10 pm Saturday night after neighbors reported hearing an explosion at the home. When they arrived, they found some smoke showing, a fire just beginning to break through and the homeowner standing out front with burns over the upper part of his body.
As they started into the house, a series of small explosions started up and the FF’s withdrew back outside. After putting out the fire that destroyed much of the home, they called in the police bomb squad to investigate and make the area secure. It turned out that the victim is a military armament collector who also reloads his own ammuntion for his firearms. They also found many inert hand grenades and rocket grenades.
This video report from KSAZ-V Ch. 10 shows what happened:
The victim is hospitalized with burns to his arms, face and the top of his head. The man’s wife said her husband was in the “reloading room” at the time of the fire, but he was not reloading ammunition. The police found nothing illegal in the house, but the neighbors are still jittery.
FOR THE THIRD TIME IN 25 MONTHS, a Phoenix, Arizona, dry cleaning business has been penetrated by a pedal-challenged driver who stomped on the big one instead of the small one and propelled their autos through the front window of the shop, coming to rest just inches away from the owner who was sitting at his desk.
Not again !
The owner of Regal Cleaners, David Reddish says that he’s going to put some concrete bollards in front of the store now. This latest sudden-acceleration did $10,000 in damage to the plant.
KSAZ-TV has the surveillance videos from all three visitations:
Firegeezer suggests that he also consider relocating his desk.
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