SOUTH FRONTENAC, ONTARIO, CANADA — A cement truck driver trapped inside his overturned rig with 25 tons of cement on board was freed after a grueling hour-plus extrication in sweltering heat on August 6, and his young puppy — initially feared crushed in the wreckage; was found alive about 100 metres down the road, curled up beside a tree an hour and a half after the crash.
South Frontenac Fire and Rescue was dispatched to Burnt Hills Road around 1 p.m. and arrived to find the cement truck rolled onto its driver’s side with serious damage from the impact. The driver was trapped with his legs pinned in a very small area, practically laying on the roof of the cab inside the overturned vehicle.
Deputy Fire Chief Brad Smith said the conditions made the rescue exceptionally challenging — extreme heat exhausting crews, the position of the vehicle, and the sheer weight of the load all working against them.
“We used all of our hydraulic equipment, our jaws of life, we used a series of different rams, we used ratchet straps. We basically tried to use everything in our toolbox that we had at our disposal to remove the driver,” Smith said. Crews worked through the extrication for over an hour before getting the driver onto a stretcher and removing him through the front windshield. He was transported to hospital and has since been moved out of the ICU.
The puppy was a different kind of rescue entirely. Crews initially feared the young female dog had been crushed in the wreckage. An hour and a half later, Smith found her about 100 metres down the road, curled up beside a tree.
“I immediately thought to myself, there’s no way that this just happened, and sure enough it was the dog. It was a little puppy that was probably a few months old,” Smith said. He put her in his vehicle, wiped her down with baby wipes to check for injuries, and was stunned to find none. He suspects she escaped through the back window when it broke open during the crash.
Recovery operations continued through the night with Ontario Provincial Police and Frontenac Paramedics on scene. Crews didn’t finish until 7 a.m. the following day.
“I don’t think we could have asked for a better outcome, with being able to save the driver and his dog at the same time,” Smith said.
Interviews courtesy of local media.
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