Sunday Oct. 20 closes busy weekend for fire departments

It’s been an intensely busy weekend for the New Albany Fire Department (NAFD) and county volunteer fire departments.

Two major motor vehicle accidents (MVA) today (Sunday), another major MVA Friday, a child injured in a fall from a horse Sunday, and a couple of fire calls kept NAFD and county volunteer fire fighters jumping.

There were also responses to fire calls Sunday inside New Albany and in rural Union County.

Emergency responders to a Hwy 348 accident had to remove a door from this vehicle to free one victim.

The first motor vehicle accident Sunday occurred just outside the city east on Highway 348. That accident involved two vehicles. Fire rescue crews had to remove a door from one of the cars to extract a victim, who was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County (BMH). It was not believed the injuries in the Sunday morning wreck on Highway 348 were life threatening.

The NAFD responded to second motor vehicle accident Sunday at about 3 pm at the Intersection of Interstate 22 and South Central Avenue. Upon arrival at the I-22/Central Ave. wreck, the NAFD found two victims trapped inside the motor vehicles. One injured person was removed from the rear seat of one car. The NAFD rescue crew used its extraction equipment to open a door and remove another victim from the front passenger seat. The victims were transported to BMH with what were believed to be non-life threatening injuries.

The Sunday car wreck at the I-22/Central Avenue interchange was the second one in four days at that busy and often confusing intersection. There have been numerous accidents at I-22/Central Ave. since the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) redesigned and rebuilt the interchange a few years ago. Many believe the I-22/Central Ave intersection design is a poor one, which often confuses motorists, even local drivers.

The car wreck Friday, Oct. 18, on Davis Road (CR81) at County Road 77 began the busy weekend and sent one victim to The Med in Memphis by helicopter. Additionally, one victim each were transported to Baptist-Union County and to the Tupelo hospital by surface ambulance; and a fourth victim in the Davis Road accident was taken to BMH by a private motor vehicle.

A transport helicopter landed on Davis Rd. to transport an accident victim to Memphis.

As fire rescue crews were finishing their work at the Sunday afternoon wreck at I-22/Central Avenue, they received a call that a child had been injured in a fall from horse at the arena of the Union County Fairgrounds. Fire rescue crews arrived at the fairgrounds and stabilized the child. A helicopter ambulance was called as a precaution, because the BMH surface ambulances were still working with victims of the I-22/Central Ave. wreck. However, ground ambulances arrived, before the helicopter, which was waved off. The child was transported to BMH with non-life-threatening injuries.

“This very busy weekend is just a prime example NAFD fire/rescue crews, emergency medical teams from Baptist Hospital, city and county law enforcement, and county fire departments working together to protect our citizens, visitors and neighbors,” said NAFD Deputy Chief Mark Whiteside.

Fire calls included on this busy weekend included:

• Just before noon Sunday NAFD firemen responded to a suspected structural fire on Sawyer Circle. “When we arrived there was no visible fire,” said Whiteside. “When we entered the home there was a light haze and the smell of some type of electrical burning odor. We searched the entire house and attic with our thermal imaging cameras and found the television in the living room extremely warm.” The NAFD crew determined that the television had been the source of the smoke, and they unplugged it.
• There was a reported structure fire on County Road 222 Sunday with East Union, Alpine and Center volunteer fire departments responding.

More about accidents on Davis Road: August Accident on Davis Rd. claims three lives