VT firefighter jumps from I-91 overpass to avoid tractor trailer that hits fire truck. Molly Wood survives 40 foot drop.
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A Windsor firefighter who jumped off an Interstate 91 overpass to avoid an out-of-control tractor-trailer truck was recovering from injuries yesterday, officials said.
Molly Wood, a four-year member of the fire department, came away from the estimated 25- to 30-foot drop with a concussion, cuts and bruises and a likely broken ankle, Fire Chief Mark Kirko said.
“She’s very lucky that she actually survived the fall,” Kirko said, adding that Wood’s helmet and turnout gear likely provided protection as she hit the pavement.
Wood and fellow Windsor firefighter Cory Austin were responding to two vehicles which crashed into the guardrail near mile marker 58 in Windsor due to icy conditions around 2:15 a.m. Shortly after, a tractor-trailer driven by Jan Fournier of Quebec lost control and slid toward Austin, Wood and one of the drivers. Austin and the driver headed north and jumped over the guardrail and onto the ground a short distance below. Wood had to jump onto County Road below to avoid being pinned between the tractor-trailer and the guardrail, Kirko said.
Later, two more tractor-trailers crashed into each other to avoid the accident.
Matt Ryan, Burlington Free Press:
The chain reaction began at about 2:15 a.m. when C.J. Stevens, 27, of Delhi, N.Y., crashed his 2003 Dodge Caravan into a guardrail while driving north on an icy stretch of interstate near the County Road overpass, according to state police.
As Douglas Bennett, 52, of Springfield approached the scene in his 1996 Honda Accord, the car spun out and also struck the guardrail, police stated.
Then a tractor trailer driven by Jan Fournier, 46, of Coaticook, Quebec plowed into Bennett’s car, pushing it into a Windsor fire truck. The 2003 International tractor itself then crashed into the same fire truck, injuring a firefighter trying to escape the wreck, according to police.
