2 killed in separate Chesco car crashes
Cops treated for smoke inalation in rescue from burning car
WEST BRANDYWINE » Two people died in separate vehicle accidents on Friday and police were treated for smoke inhalation when they, along with firefighters, freed a driver from a burning vehicle.
East Brandywine Fire Company, West Brandywine Police Department, Brandywine Medic 93 and Westwood Ambulance were dispatched at 7:47 p.m. Friday to the 600 block of East Reeceville Road for an accident with entrapment and fire. One vehicle left the roadway, hit a tree and caught on fire, officials said.
East Brandywine Fire Chief Vince D’Amico said upon arrival, the firefighters found the police officers attempting to pull the driver from the burning vehicle. The firefighters jumped in to help remove the victim as bystanders also joined the efforts to remove the sole occupant. A medic from Brandywine Medic 93 helped control the fire by using a fire extinguisher, according to D’Amico.
“There was no time to put on our air packs. We needed to get her out quickly,” D’Amico said of the victim. “After we got her out, the car was fully involved. With the effort of the police and witnesses on-scene, we got her out in three minutes, all while it’s mass chaos of extinguishing the fire, and dealing with the heat and the wind.”
After they freed the unconscious victim from the vehicle, resuscitation of the patient began immediately and she was transported to Brandywine Hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police and firefighters. She was identified by police as a West Caln resident. Her name has not yet been released.
“It was a proud moment of a collaborative effort, but it was a sad outcome that day,” D’Amico said on Saturday.
The driver of the second vehicle, the sole occupant, was transported to the hospital for injuries sustained. Three police officers were also transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. They were all released that night. Emergency responders were onscene for three hours.
D’Amico praised the firstresponders for their actions and risking their lives to help the victim.
“No one stopped trying,” D’Amico said. It was the second fatal car accident on Friday that the East Brandywine firefighters responded to, including the aforementioned one in West Brandywine and another earlier in the day in East Brandywine Township. “We were doing good
things and both had succumbed. We didn’t get the outcome we were looking for,” D’Amico said. “All of our personnel, the police and EMS did what we’re trained to do and we did it in the best way we could. We didn’t get the result we hoped for.”
The firefighters, along with East Brandywine police, responded at
12:27 p.m. Friday to a two-vehicle accident involving a garbage truck on Horseshoe Pike (Route 322) and Hawthorne Drive in East Brandywine Township.
Upon police arrival, they said they found a severely damaged Chevrolet sedan with one occupant, and a waste disposal vehicle with moderate front end damage. Police said the driver, the sole occupant of the sedan, was entrapped. After firefighters freed the driver, he was transported to Brandywine Hospital where he
was pronounced dead. Police identified the driver as Christopher Estes, 25, of Honey Brook. The driver of the waste disposal vehicle was transported to Brandywine Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police and firefighters.
Police said the preliminary investigation showed that the sedan had emerged from Hawthorne Drive at which time it was struck by the waste truck.
The road was closed while emergency responders and investigators
were on scene for three hours.
Police were assisted at the scene by the Chester County Serious Crash Assistance Team (SCAT). Glen Moore, Honey Brook and Wagontown Fire Companies, and Minquas and Westwood Ambulance, assisted at the scene.
In between the two car accidents, the firefighters also assisted EMS during a cardiac arrest incident. The company was in service for eight hours total during those incidents.
“I think for the firefighters, police officers and EMS to deal with that amount in one day, and the severity of it, for the agencies to perform is a testament to what everyone is doing,” D’Amico said. “I couldn’t be more proud of their hard work and dedication.”