On Thursday, January 3, 2013, the Forney Fire Department responded to an 8:55 a.m. call regarding a vehicle in the East Fork Trinity River off of the Highway 80 service road. A van with a male adult driver ended up in the river south of HWY 80 between Lawson Road and FM 460, and was still inside the van when firefighters arrived on scene.
On Thursday, January 3, 2013, the Forney Fire Department responded to an 8:55 a.m. call regarding a vehicle in the East Fork Trinity River off of the Highway 80 service road. A van with a male adult driver ended up in the river south of HWY 80 between Lawson Road and FM 460, and was still inside the van when firefighters arrived on scene.
Forney Fire Chief Rick Townsend said that three firefighters performed a water rescue after removing their fire gear and adorning helmets and life jackets. Firefighters Russell Bannister, Jeremy Latimer, and Ryan Elder went in and removed the male victim who was sitting inside the van in chest high water. The water was icy cold and the rescue took approximately 10 minutes.
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The driver was transported by ambulance to Sunnyvale Hospital and is listed in stable condition. His name and age have not been released and the reason his van ended up in the river is unknown at this time. The three firemen were treated on scene for mild hypothermia and one fireman received stitches for a laceration on his finger. All three are doing well and are back on duty.
Chief Townsend thanked the Forney Police Department for responding and doing a great job controlling traffic at the scene. DPS responded to write an accident report because the accident occurred outside Forney city limits. The on-scene commanders for FFD in this incident were Lieutenant Lawson and Captain Pyle. Also assisting on-scene were firefighter Steve Chenault and volunteer Charlie Buster.
