NORTH CAROLINA FIRE TRUCK STRUCK

Serious accidents in Gaston County threw a wrench in traffic around lunchtime Wednesday, putting several lives in danger. Around 11 a.m. a tractor-trailer jackknifed on Interstate 85 at exit 17 near U.S. 321. The accident completely closed down the interstate on which an ambulance was transporting a heart patient from Rutherford County to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

The paramedics flagged down a tow-truck driver also stuck in the traffic and he sprang into action. He pulled the tractor-trailer off the road so the ambulance could be on its way. Soon after, firefighters were responding to an accident on U.S. 321 north near Hardin Road when they became crash victims themselves. Chief Steve Wilkinson of the Ag Center Volunteer Fire Department said his crew came out when a tractor-trailer ran into the median. No one was hurt, but as the firefighters wrapped up they heard a big bang. A small car had slammed into the back of the fire truck, leaving the two locked together.

"Knocked the truck forward about three or four inches; it hit hard," Wilkinson said. The driver needed to be pried out of the car; fortunately the rescue crew had the tools on their wrecked truck to cut him free.