Early Morning Crash Closes Wildcat Canyon Rd.

Lakeside:

On the morning of April 20, 2014 (Easter Sunday), crews from the Lakeside Fire Protection District and Barona Fire were called to the scene of an early morning rollover traffic collision.  Initial reports from Heartland dispatch noted that there was a solo vehicle rollover with around 5 patients.  Several of the patients were reported to still be trapped in the vehicle which was on it's roof and possibly on fire. 

The vehicle came to rest on it's roof

Barona Engine 27 arrived on scene first and reported that the accident was just south of the 3.0 mile marker on Wildcat Canyon Road near Muth Valley Rd.  Engine 27 reported there were several patients and people around the vehicle, but there were none requiring extrication and vehicle was not on fire. It was confirmed that there was only one vehicle involved in the collision and that it had rolled over an unknown number of times.  Lakeside Engine 2 arrived on scene just after Engine 27 and began patient care with Lakeside Medic 2.

View 2014 Incident Map in a larger map

The traffic collision required that both lanes of Wildcat Canyon Road be closed so patient assessment and care could be carried out.  The California Highway Patrol arrived on scene and took over the establishment of the road closures, which allowed fire department crews to safely load the patients into the transporting medic units.

Transporting medic units getting a patient turnover from the on scene paramedics.

Bystanders on scene reported that at least two of the patients from the traffic collision had left the scene with other vehicles before any fire department resources arrived.  It was found that there were still two patients on scene that had to be transported to local trauma centers.  The patients were transported by Lakeside Medic 2 and Medic 3.

The damage to the vehicle is clearly visible after it has been flipped onto it's wheels.

After the patients were transported the vehicle was flipped onto it's wheels and the extent of the damage could be seen.  The roadway was covered in oil and fuel as a result of the damage the vehicle had sustained.

There were a large volume of fluids on the roadway as a result of the vehicle collision.

Crews assisted with the initial clean up but it was determined that the County Roads Department would have to come out with specialized equipment to complete the cleanup operations.  The CHP remained on the scene to wait for County Roads and conduct the accident investigation.

Preventing fluids from running off into the waterways is one of the tasks that has to be accomplished on an accident scene.

Photos by: FF/PM Steve Russo and Captain Bernie Molloy
Post by: Captain Bernie Molloy