Driver entrapped as tank truck strikes vehicle
YOUNG TWP. — Punxsutawney firefighters worked for nearly half an hour at approximately 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Route 36 and 536, Young Township, the result of a two-vehicle accident.
All three Punxsutawney fire companies responded to the scene of the accident: Lindsey’s Rescue40, Central’s Rescue-20 and Elk Run’s EngineRescue-30.
According to reports from the scene, a Chevrolet Impala and a tank truck collided, causing severe damage to the former and trapping the driver inside the wreckage.
Doug McAfoos, Elk Run fire chief, said it’s been quite a while since there have been any accidents that were that severe
with the driver entrapped.
“It’s never good when it takes that long to get somebody who was pinned in the wreckage for that length of time because you know they’re in pain,” McAfoos said.
Once she was freed, Jefferson County EMS transported the patient up Walston Road, where the STAT MedEvac helicopter had landed in the grassy area owned by Van Leer’s Auto Sales in Young Township.
The driver was flown to an area trauma center for treatment of her injuries.
Joe Defelice, Lindsey Fire Company chief, said that her car was towed by Brosius from Big Run, and Bricen Towing from Brookville helped with moving the tank truck off the road to prepare for towing by Seliga Auto Sales on Walston Road.
Punxsutawney-based Pennsylvania State Police performed a reenactment of the accident before anything was moved. Route 36 was closed to traffic for several hours.