Car Strikes Tracks,
Gate, Power Pole

MidTown – Town of Evans NY – March 6, 2004 --- In an accident still under investigation, a young Eden man struck the CSX railroad tracks off the crossing on Eden-Evans Center Road around 8pm tonight.

The vehicle then apparently spun around, striking the crossing gate and then impacting with a power pole. The crash sheared the pole in two places, sending the top section to come straight down on the ground.

Angola firefighters were first on location as they had just returned to their station from a previous call and responded to the scene.

Angola Chief Todd Dybdahl called for a Mercy Flight Helicopter to land at the nearby Lake Shore Senior High School and also requested that Angola Fire Control contact the CSX and Norfolk/Southern railways to shut down trains in the area of the crash.

The car landed in the right-of-way between the two sets of tracks that run east and west through the area. Trains were speeding by at 60MPH while emergency crews were first arriving at the accident scene.

Evans Center Assistant Chief Tiger Schmittendorf arrived from their station and assumed incident command. Assistant Chief Tim Szczepaniak responded on Engine 2 and took over the extrication operation with the crew from Engine 1.

Just thirteen minutes from the time of the call, Angola and Evans Center had teamed up to remove the patient from the vehicle which had sustained heavy driver's side damage. He was transported in serious condition to the helicopter landing zone in Angola's ambulance. From there, he was flown to the Erie County Medical Center, the area's trauma center.

Concerned for the stability of the sheared power pole, all rail and road traffic was shut down to avoid any unnecessary vibration, jeopardizing personnel safety. Fortunately, none of the primary power lines strung to the pole had severed and residents never lost power. Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Supervisor Bill Wiate and crews arrived to assess the damage.

Evans Center's engines provided scene lighting while accident investigators from the Town of Evans Police Department took measurements and attempted to trace the vehicle's path.

After power reps spoke with the fire chiefs, it was decided that traffic would remain closed until a temporary pole could be secured to stabilize the broken one.  That operation took several hours. Once a hole was drilled and the new pole was bolted to the existing pole, the threat of falling power lines was diminished.

The fire company went back in service some 4.5 hours after the initial alert. Evans Center handled two other calls during the incident including a mutual aid EMS call and a commercial fire alarm activation.

According to railroad officials, the 4-hour shutdown backed up rail traffic across three states.

Evans Center was assisted by the Angola Fire Department, Highland Hose Fire Company, Angola Fire Control Dispatch Center, Town of Evans Police, CSX Railway Police and personnel, Norfolk/Southern Railroad Police, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., National Fuel Gas and Rural/Metro Paramedics.

No firefighter injuries were reported during the incident.

Photos by: STEVE SCHADE/Evans Center

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