jamieooh
01-14-2012, 04:13 PM
Seabees help save family in dramatic rescue on Highway 101
By Gretchen Wenner
Posted January 13, 2012 at 5:05 p.m., updated January 13, 2012 at 6:28 p.m.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan/13/seabees-help-save-family-in-dramatic-rescue-on/#ixzz1jSxCv7QD
- vcstar.com
Six Seabees and a forklift helped rescue a woman and her two daughters trapped in a smashed BMW that was on the verge of plummeting about 75 feet off a bridge after a fatal accident south of Buellton on Thursday.
"It's very fortunate they came along when they did," said California Highway Patrol Officer Jeanne Malone. "They performed a wonderful service for us."
The accident occurred on Highway 101 around 2:40 p.m. when a northbound big rig hauling gravel hit the rear of the BMW, which also was headed north, the patrol reported. The big rig broke through bridge rails and plunged into the creek below, where it burst into flames. The 48-year-old driver, later identified as Charles Arthur Allison Jr. of Grover Beach, died at the scene.
The BMW, meanwhile, was stuck in the center railing of the Nojoqui Creek bridge, "precariously hanging over the edge," according to the patrol report. The 36-year-old driver, Kelli Lynne Groves of San Juan Capistrano, was in the car with her daughters, ages 10 and 10 weeks.
The Seabees — Petty Officers Michael McCracken, Frankie Cruz, Shawn Legg, Benjamin Mead and James Winters and Constructionman Clinton Roberts of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 and the 31st Seabee Readiness Group — were heading back to Port Hueneme when they came on the scene. They offered to help with controlling traffic or in any other way.
"As the fire department was cutting the car to get the family out, it kept slipping over the bridge," McCracken, a forklift operator, said in a Navy release. "I talked to the fire captain in charge and he was excited to hear that we had an extendable-boom forklift just 200 to 300 feet behind the wreck and he said to go get it."
The forklift extended across the gap between southbound and northbound lanes and cradled the crumpled wreckage hanging off the roadway, photos show.
The family was safely rescued and taken to area hospitals with minor to major injuries, the patrol reported. The accident, which is still under investigation, shut the freeway in both directions for hours and caused major damage to the bridge.
"The mom and two children are all alive and we had a hand in it," McCracken said in the release. "That is the biggest thing that I got out of it."
Video of the rescue is available KCOY Channel 12's website at http://www.kcoy.com.
© 2012 Ventura County Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan/13/seabees-help-save-family-in-dramatic-rescue-on/#ixzz1jSx3C5zx
- vcstar.com
By Gretchen Wenner
Posted January 13, 2012 at 5:05 p.m., updated January 13, 2012 at 6:28 p.m.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan/13/seabees-help-save-family-in-dramatic-rescue-on/#ixzz1jSxCv7QD
- vcstar.com
Six Seabees and a forklift helped rescue a woman and her two daughters trapped in a smashed BMW that was on the verge of plummeting about 75 feet off a bridge after a fatal accident south of Buellton on Thursday.
"It's very fortunate they came along when they did," said California Highway Patrol Officer Jeanne Malone. "They performed a wonderful service for us."
The accident occurred on Highway 101 around 2:40 p.m. when a northbound big rig hauling gravel hit the rear of the BMW, which also was headed north, the patrol reported. The big rig broke through bridge rails and plunged into the creek below, where it burst into flames. The 48-year-old driver, later identified as Charles Arthur Allison Jr. of Grover Beach, died at the scene.
The BMW, meanwhile, was stuck in the center railing of the Nojoqui Creek bridge, "precariously hanging over the edge," according to the patrol report. The 36-year-old driver, Kelli Lynne Groves of San Juan Capistrano, was in the car with her daughters, ages 10 and 10 weeks.
The Seabees — Petty Officers Michael McCracken, Frankie Cruz, Shawn Legg, Benjamin Mead and James Winters and Constructionman Clinton Roberts of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 and the 31st Seabee Readiness Group — were heading back to Port Hueneme when they came on the scene. They offered to help with controlling traffic or in any other way.
"As the fire department was cutting the car to get the family out, it kept slipping over the bridge," McCracken, a forklift operator, said in a Navy release. "I talked to the fire captain in charge and he was excited to hear that we had an extendable-boom forklift just 200 to 300 feet behind the wreck and he said to go get it."
The forklift extended across the gap between southbound and northbound lanes and cradled the crumpled wreckage hanging off the roadway, photos show.
The family was safely rescued and taken to area hospitals with minor to major injuries, the patrol reported. The accident, which is still under investigation, shut the freeway in both directions for hours and caused major damage to the bridge.
"The mom and two children are all alive and we had a hand in it," McCracken said in the release. "That is the biggest thing that I got out of it."
Video of the rescue is available KCOY Channel 12's website at http://www.kcoy.com.
© 2012 Ventura County Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan/13/seabees-help-save-family-in-dramatic-rescue-on/#ixzz1jSx3C5zx
- vcstar.com