KEMP, Texas — A man was entrapped for approximately an hour, unable to call for help, after veering off U.S. Highway 175 and overturning his 18-wheeler in a creek bed near Kemp — partially submerging his cab and himself.
KEMP, Texas — A man was entrapped for approximately an hour, unable to call for help, after veering off U.S. Highway 175 and overturning his 18-wheeler in a creek bed near Kemp — partially submerging his cab and himself.
It wasn't until an off-duty Dallas Police Department officer blew a tire on debris from the wreck that the man was discovered calling for help. Officials say the man may have not been discovered until daylight, otherwise.
Just after 3 a.m., emergency personnel were called to the scene on U.S. Highway 175 near Kemp.
The 18-wheeler, for yet to be determined reasons, left the roadway, crashed through the highway's guardrail, and down into the creek bed below. The cab jackknifed and the trailer overturned onto the top of the cab — entrapping the driver inside the crushed cab, beneath the trailer, and partially submerged in the creek bed.
The driver is believed to have been trapped in the cab for approximately an hour due to the estimated elapsed time from his departure from the Coppell mail distribution facility around 1 a.m.
Firefighters tunneled, cribbed and shored up the trailer, and cut through the rear of the cab to access the driver, according to Kaufman County Fire Marshal Randy Richards.
"It was a very difficult extrication," he said.
Richards says the driver was lucky to be alive having suffered what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.
The driver was flown by CareFlite medical helicopter to a Dallas-area hospital for treatment.
The Kemp Fire Department, Mabank Fire Department, Kaufman County Fire Marshal's Office, Kaufman County Office of Emergency Management, Kemp Police Department, CareFlite, and the Texas Department of Public Safety responded to the scene along with two heavy-duty wrecker companies.
Crews worked throughout the morning hours cleaning up a HAZMAT spill and transferring the mail contents to another trailer for delivery.
