On Monday, December 18, at 8:13 a.m., the Crete Township Fire Protection District was dispatched for a reported vehicle accident with injuries at Rt. 394 and Goodenow Road. The original dispatch consisted of a still alarm response from Crete Township, which included two ambulances, one engine, and one chief officer.
The first unit arrived on the scene and reported a single vehicle accident involving a semi-truck hauling scrap metal that was in the ditch of the south bound lanes of Rt. 394, north of Goodenow Road, with a victim trapped in the cab of the truck.
Due to the complexity of the extrication of the victim, additional equipment and personnel were requested to the scene, which included an engine and chief from Beecher Fire Protection District, two heavy duty tow trucks, a medical helicopter, and traffic control from local law enforcement and Crete EMA. Extrication of the victim from the vehicle took one hour and 40 minutes. The victim was transported by Lifestar Air Transport to Christ Medical Center in stable condition, and the scene was turned over to the Illinois State Police.
The Crete Township Fire Protection District would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance with the above incident: Beecher Fire Protection District, Village of Crete Fire Department, South Chicago Heights Fire Department, Cedar Lake Fire Department, Layaway Communication Center, Lifestar Aeromedical Transport, Illinois State Police, Will County Sheriff, Crete Police Department, Crete EMA, IDOT, and TMW (Crete) and Kochel Towing (Monee) for their emergent and professional assistance during the incident.