Tarkington VFD Update

TARKINGTON, May 6, 2008 - This past weekend was a very, very busy one for Tarkington firefighters. Saturday night, they were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident on CR2222. Assistant Chief Evert Doucette arrived on location to find a Chevrolet pickup had struck a Dodge pickup that had been parked on the shoulder of the road. No one was in the Dodge, but the driver of the Chevy was transported by Cleveland EMS to the hospital.

On Sunday afternoon, volunteers were dispatched to a brush fire on CR2277. The homeowner had been burning a large brush pile with a standing tree in the middle during the day. He told firefighters that he’d been watching the fire for over four hours, but had left for just a few minutes to pick up a child. While he was gone, a gust of wind blew burning embers into nearby woods setting them on fire. Luckily, a quick response by TVFD prevented the fire from burning too far into the woods and was quickly extinguished. Firefighters then assisted the homeowner in downing the tree to prevent a reoccurrence.

On Sunday night, Tarkington firefighters were dispatched to another vehicle accident, this one at the intersection of SH321 and SH105. Once an all too familiar destination for TVFD, the installation of a traffic light has drastically reduced the number of accidents that intersection, which at one time had acquired the ominous nickname of “T-Bone Alley.” Prior to the installation of the traffic signal, Tarkington firefighters responded to an average of two-to-three calls a month at the intersection, many of which were very serious, or even fatal, accidents. Since the light was put in early-April 2007, this is only the second accident at the light, neither of which has been very serious.

Sunday night’s accident involved a red Ford pickup that failed to negotiate the corner going from SH105 onto SH321, sideswiping a Chevrolet pickup then striking a Ford Focus before coming to rest in a pasture. No one was seriously injured in the wreck.

By Dalton Gregory

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