 |
| Photo By John Whiteside |
Thursday, July 10, a major traffic pile up occurred at
approximately 7:50 A.M. near the Alma Cal Fire Station. The site was located at
Lexington Reservoir on northbound Highway 17, the main commute route from the Santa Cruz coast to the San Jose area. Multiple ambulances and fire
rigs were dispatched by Santa Clara County Fire to rescue, treat, and transport
victims of the 10-vehicle accident.
A two-trailer big rig hauling dirt came downhill and plowed
into slowing traffic. The big rig ran over several vehicles and then, with one
trailer still attached, broke through a steel and wooden post barricade. The
big rig eventually stopped on the Old
Santa Cruz Highway, a frontage road adjacent to
Highway 17. The rear trailer detached and continued down Highway 17 for about
50 feet before jackknifing into the center, concrete divider.
Seven patients were transported to local hospitals. Sadly,
there was one fatality.
At 10:57 A.M., Fire Associates members were paged to respond
to the scene to support Fire, California Highway Patrol, and CALTRANS personnel
doing recovery, vehicle removal, clean-up, and the CHP Multidisciplinary
Accident Investigation Team (MAIT). After several phone calls to obtain details
of the service request and availability of FA responders, John Whiteside departed San Jose Station 6 at 11:40
A.M. in FSU-2. The accident created massive traffic jams, even with coned-off
two-way traffic in the normal southbound lanes. En route, John encountered FASCV
member Dan Wong in his POV and
together they finally reached the scene at 12:45 P.M.
County
Fire had forty meals delivered
just ahead of the FSU’s arrival. Tables and benches were set up. Cold bottled drinks
and lemonade were provided along with CLIF bars. John and Dan remained on scene
until all the vehicles had been removed and the highway cleaned of debris. FSU-2
was released at 5:00 P.M., just ahead of the highway being reopened. John
arrived back at Station 6 at 5:40 P.M. after refueling the support unit.
- John Whiteside's photos can be viewed at: Hwy 17 Accident
