LEE COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) — A complicated rescue unfolded early Sunday morning after a vehicle went off U.S. Highway 280 and landed in a creek roughly 50 feet below a bridge between the Shelton Mill Road and Ashton Park areas.
According to the Farmville Volunteer Fire Department, crews were dispatched for reports of a vehicle crash with entrapment. When firefighters arrived, they discovered the vehicle down an embankment, partially submerged in the creek below the bridge.
Investigators believe the driver traveled into the median before going over the edge and down the steep embankment.
Due to the complex terrain, Farmville firefighters requested mutual aid from the Opelika Fire Department and Auburn Public Safety – Police & Fire. The response included Auburn's brand-new tiller truck, "Ladder 1," which was placed into service just days earlier.
The massive 73,000-pound, 59.5-foot tractor-drawn aerial features a 107-foot rescue ladder designed for large-scale technical rescues and firefighting operations. Fire officials say its advanced capabilities proved invaluable during Sunday's operation, which required the use of a ladder truck and rope system to reach and lift the trapped driver.
The occupant received medical care at the scene, was extricated, and safely lifted from the creek to waiting medical personnel.
Farmville firefighters say the successful rescue highlights the strength of regional cooperation and training among East Alabama's emergency crews.
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