Rescuers stymied as two stuck cars catch fire
Staff writer
In a span of two days, county first responders were dispatched to two separate vehicle fires involving motorists stuck in mud. And in both cases, emergency crews themselves became mired while attempting to help.
The first incident occurred around 2:15 a.m. Monday on 110th Rd. just east of Jade Rd., where a Lindsborg man was stranded for close to eight hours after driving onto a muddy, low-maintenance stretch of roadway where water crosses the road.
The driver, identified as Justin Taylor, became stuck and later reported that his vehicle caught fire after prolonged attempts to free it caused heat buildup in the wheel well. The fire was out before Peabody firefighters arrived.
Taylor walked to the intersection, called 911, and later walked to firefighters, telling them he had put out the fire himself.
A Hillsboro ambulance responding from the north became stuck in mud while attempting to reach him. Firefighters used a six-wheel-drive engine to pull the ambulance free, fire chief Colton Glenn said.
They then took Taylor to the ambulance. Taylor was assessed but not transported, ambulance director Mickey Price said.
Undersheriff Larry Starkey said deputies and Hillsboro ambulance found no evidence of drugs or alcohol despite Taylors statement that he rather improbably became lost while driving from Wichita to McPherson.
Firefighters cleared the scene around 4:30 a.m.
Less than 24 hours later, around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, Burns firefighters responded to another vehicle fire near 50th and Alfalfa Rds. northeast of Burns.
Burns fire chief Barry Black said a woman following GPS directions became stuck on a muddy back road. While attempting to free her vehicle, it caught fire.
“She had went down a road that’s pretty much a maintenance road,” Black said. “It wasn’t maintained, and it was muddy, and as a result she got stuck. Consequently, the vehicle started to catch on fire.”
The driver suffered minor burns to a hand while attempting to extinguish the blaze before responders arrived. Marion ambulance attendants treated her at the scene, but she was not taken to a hospital. Sheriff’s deputies also responded.
Fire spread from the vehicle into nearby short grass, burning an estimated two to three acres before being contained.
During the response, one Burns fire engine also became stuck in mud.
A local farmer, Jim Bob Watkins, used a four-wheel-drive tractor to pull the engine free, Black said.
Crews cleared the scene after roughly an hour to an hour and a half.
Inbetween the two incidents,, at 12:45 p.m. Monday, both Hillsboro ambulance and a Goessel firet responder became stuck in mud while attempting to reach a 90-year-old man who fell and was unable to get up at farm this side of the McPherson County line between 100th and 110th Rds.
The man declined to be taken to a hospital.