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Apr 14, 2009 7:10 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Safety Issues At Chesco. Intersection
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS 3) ―
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For the second time in less than a year, a Chester County intersection was the scene of a deadly collision.
CBS
For the second time in less than a year, a
Chester
County intersection was the
scene of a deadly collision.
Questions are being raised about the safety
of the intersection and how long it took fire units to
respond.
The tragic accident happened at Route
202 and Green Tree
Drive in West
Chester early Monday morning.
A traffic camera captured the horror, moments
after a car was rammed by a truck and burst into flames.
Despite rescue efforts by police and
neighbors, the car's driver, 31-year-old Daniel Ortiz-Lopez of Phoenixville,
died in the fire.
As flames consumed the car, the wait time for
fire units grew. Approximately, 7 1/2 minutes into the accident, an ambulance,
which carried no fire suppression equipment, arrived at the
scene.
Meanwhile cars, even a school bus that
appeared to have children aboard, passed within just a few feet of the
potentially explosive wreck.
Nearly nine minutes after the first call, a
rescue truck carrying no water and only fire extinguishers arrived. Due to the
nature of the fire, the extinguishers proved useless.
Finally after 13 minutes, a pumper truck
arrived and nearly 14 minutes after the initial alarm, water from a single hose
line quickly quenched the flames.
So far, officials in Chester County have no comment on the response
time.
But neighbors say the fiery crash that killed
Mr. Lopez is the second fatal car-truck collision at the intersection in less
than 10 months and something must be done to make it
safer.
"This is a year later, we lost another life
and not one improvement has been made in this intersection," said one
neighbor.
Investigators say the driver of the truck,
who does not face any motor vehicle citations or criminal charges, told them his
brakes failed.
Investigators are now conducting a mechanical
inspection of the truck as part of the search to find the cause of the deadly
crash.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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