Treasure Coast Newspapers
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Two vehicles were filled with flames when deputies arrived at the scene of the crash.
One woman was trapped inside her car. Deputies briefly feared they would not be able to get her out.
But that didn’t stop Deputies Robert Sunkel and Linda Nolan from succeeding.
“This is pretty incredible,” said Indian River County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Eric Flowers about the rescue of Cheryl Darlene Coons, 58, of Vero Beach, at Oslo Road and 66th Avenue on Wednesday morning.
Coons was in critical condition Wednesday at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The three-car crash set a septic tank truck and a Toyota Camry on fire. An empty Republic Services garbage truck also was involved in the crash. It was heading eastbound on Oslo and was struck by the septic truck after its collision with the Camry.
Flowers said Coons, who was in the Camry, had been traveling south on 66th and made a right turn on Oslo about 10:45 a.m. She pulled out in front of the septic truck, which was traveling west through the intersection. Both vehicles caught fire shortly after the collision.
“We don’t know how the fire started,” Flowers said.
When Sunkel and Nolan arrived, Coons was conscious but she could not open her damaged door, said Indian River County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Brian Burkeen. The deployed air bag had her trapped in her seat, Flowers said.
Nolan burned her hand trying to open the passenger door, Flowers said. That’s when Sunkel used his baton to smash the passenger side window.
After a couple of attempts, Sunkel and Nolan removed Coons from the burning Camry through the window, then pulled her away from the wreckage as the fire spread to the grass in the northwest corner of the intersection, Flowers said.
“We had some heroes involved in this,” Burkeen said about the deputies.
The deputies were not available for comment Wednesday.
The septic truck was driven by Shawn Ray Kearby, 36, of Port St. Lucie. The garbage truck was driven by Ricardo Pascal McKenzie, 42, of Vero Beach. Neither man was seriously injured in the crash, FHP said.
Nolan drove herself to a hospital for treatment for her hand, Flowers said.
The intersection was reopened about 4 p.m.
It was the same intersection where 28-year-old Stephen Stradley, of Vero Beach, was killed on March 8 in a two-car accident. Troopers said Stradley ran the stop sign on 66th and crashed into a westbound car. Stradley, who wasn’t wearing a seat belt, was ejected into a canal and pronounced dead at the scene.
Indian River County Public Works Director Christopher Mora said the county has been planning for years to add a traffic light and left-turn lanes for southbound 66th and eastbound Oslo at the intersection. However, that had been planned because of an anticipated increase in traffic for the area. Mora said the intersection doesn’t have a notable rate of crashes.
“It’s unusual to get a fatal crash and a crash with injuries there in a short amount of time,” he said.
The county has budgeted $1.16 million for the intersection improvements, which will likely be done during fiscal 2017, Mora said.
Copyright 2016 Treasure Coast Newspapers