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Tractor-Trailer Slides Off I-95 In Fairfield; Firefighters Rescue Driver

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The Fairfield Fire Department extricated a trucker from his cab after his tractor-trailer slid down an embankment from I-95 north early Wednesday morning, fire officials said.

Assistant Chief Sherwood and Lt. Barry of the Fairfield Fire Department work at the scene of the truck accident in Fairfield.

Assistant Chief Sherwood and Lt. Barry of the Fairfield Fire Department work at the scene of the truck accident in Fairfield.

Photo Credit: Fairfield Fire Department
Fairfield firefighters oversee removal of the truck after the accident.

Fairfield firefighters oversee removal of the truck after the accident.

Photo Credit: Fairfield Fire Department
Fairfield firefighters help spread SpeedDry at the scene of the truck accident.

Fairfield firefighters help spread SpeedDry at the scene of the truck accident.

Photo Credit: Fairfield Fire Department
Firefighters work to free a driver from a damaged truck early Wednesday morning.

Firefighters work to free a driver from a damaged truck early Wednesday morning.

Photo Credit: Fairfield Fire Department

At 6:43 a.m., the Fairfield Emergency Communications Center received a report of a “large 18-wheeler off the embankment from I-95 north,” fire officials said. The truck had slid onto Meadow Street and was behind Fitness Edge. 

Fire officials said the truck went down the embankment from the highway and jackknifed on Meadow Street.

Facing heavy rain, multiple transformers and several power lines, firefighters rescued the trucker with a Stokes basket — a stretcher or basket used to rescue a person from a confined space — after they received a call reporting the accident at 6:43 a.m., according to fire officials.

“The driver was trapped in the cab but responsive,” Assistant Chief Schuyler Sherwood said in a statement. “There were multiple transformers and power lines down alongside Meadow Street due to the accident and rainfall was at its heaviest as we arrived.”

The driver was sent to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport by AMR Ambulance. Fairfield Conservation and Public Works, Connecticut State Police, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and United Illuminating responded, fire officials said.

After the driver was en route to the hospital and hazards had been controlled, Bud’s Truck & Diesel Service had several heavy wreckers on the scene to clear the scene. The company secured the trailer and removed it from the scene, fire officials said.

Engine 2 was the last unit to clear at 10:03 a.m. after turning the scene over for investigation by the state police, fire officials said.

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