Fire departments honored for response to deadly crash
Published 8:52 pm Thursday, January 17, 2019
- Firefighters with the West Point and Troup County Fire Departments were honored for their response to a fatal, single-car crash on July 27 on I-85 at exit 6 in West Point. Pictured in the back row from left to right are Troup County firefighters Jordan Barnett, Rusty Brown and Sgt. Rodney Evans and West Point firefighters Didar Suleman Levi Richardson and Marr Richardson. In the front row is Troup County firefighter Rick Jones and West Point firefighters Lt. Norman Robinson, Lt. Derick Staley and William Claypoole. --Contributed
WEST POINT — Firefighters in west Georgia have been honored for their quick response to a fatal, single-car accident in July.
The West Point Fire Department and the Troup County Fire Department were recently honored at a banquet held by the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Emergency Management Services. The local firefighters were honored in GDPH’s Region 4.
The departments were honored with the Trauma Care Award for their efforts at a July 27 traffic crash next exit 6 on Interstate 85.
West Point Fire Chief Mitt Smith said it was an honor to be recognized, but there were many people and agencies that responded to help.
The Georgia State Patrol, West Point Police Department, Lanett Fire and EMS, Troup County American Medical Response, Troup County Sheriff’s Office and Air Methods and Air Evac responded to the scene.
“It is great recognition for the great people who do a lot of things to preserve life in a tragedy such of this,” he said. “It took an entire village to make this happen.”
West Point Fire Chief Mitt Smith still remembers the day well, recalling that a family of six were traveling from Atlanta to Florida for a beach vacation at about noon on a Friday.
He said a failed tire seemed to be the early indication for the accident, as the Ford Expedition flipped many times on the interstate.
The Valley Times-News reported at the time that the SUV was carrying six people were traveling on I-85 when it went over a guardrail and dropped 10 feet down into an embankment.
Smith said four passengers, ranging from ages 5 to 19, were ejected from the vehicle. He said they were later flown to trauma facilities in Atlanta.
Smith said the children have recovered from their injuries. The father of the children received non-life-threatening injuries. However, the mother, who was in the passenger seat, was found deceased still inside the vehicle.
“It looked like a war zone,” Smith said in July. “Their belongings, blankets, phones, electronics, toys and tools, were scattered all over the road.”
He said first responders were running around everywhere, and it looked like mass chaos, but it was actually handled very professionally.
“It was a well-orchestrated mass casualty situation,” Smith said.
He said it shut the interstate down for several hours.
