MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

Lawrence Road, In Front Of Lawrence Road Firehouse, Lawrence Township

At about 9:14 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2002, a motor vehicle accident occurred in front of the Lawrence Road Fire Co. firehouse while a number of firefighters stood on Station 22’s front ramp conversing. The accident took place when a car traveling south on Lawrence Road hit the passenger’s side of a car turning onto Eldridge Avenue from the northbound side of Lawrence Road.

Lawrence Road firefighters immediately contacted township police and requested an ambulance from Lawrence First Aid Squad. They then went to the assistance of the occupants of the two vehicles. (Mercer County Central Communications Center was notified of the incident, but Station 22 was not officially paged out.)

Ff. Martin Burch pulled Rescue 22 out onto the front ramp and raised the light tower to illuminate the crash scene. Lt. Shaun Dlabik and Ff. Joseph Dlabik Jr. used flares and Utility 22 to shut down Lawrence Road and detour traffic around the firehouse. Southbound traffic was diverted down Pilla Avenue and northbound traffic was sent down Marlboro Road.

Ff./EMT Kris Palmer, Lt. Michael Byrd, Lt. Chris Pangaldi and Ff. Chris Longo, among others, meanwhile attended to the injured driver of the car that had been heading south on Lawrence Road. Firefighters found the car’s driver, identified as Patricia Robinson, 63, of Jackson, still in her seat. Her car had stopped in the middle of the southbound lane of Lawrence Road.

Robinson, who was conscious and alert, had several lacerations on her face and had blood coming from her mouth where she had had some teeth knocked out during the impact. She complained of feeling chest and back pain.

Palmer secured a protective collar around Robinson’s neck. Ambulance personnel then arrived on scene a few minutes later and worked together with firefighters to place Robinson onto a backboard. Robinson was then transferred to a stretcher and transported to Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Ambulance 129-2.

Robinson’s car had sustained such extensive front-end damage that its horn was jammed on. The horn blared continuously until firefighters used bolt-cutters to sever the car’s battery cables. Firefighters spread speedie-dry material on the ground to absorb anti-freeze and other automotive fluids spilled from the car.

The other car involved in collision came to a stop on Eldridge Avenue about 50 feet from the corner. The car had sustained significant passenger’s side damage but its driver was not hurt. Firefighters examined the car but found no hazard.

By 9:33 p.m., Lawrence Township police had reopened the roadway and no further service was needed from Lawrence Road’s firefighters.