Copyright 2005 Chattanooga Publishing Company
By CLIFF HIGHTOWER
Staff Writer
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
DAYTON, Tenn. — The district attorney’s office will review the report of a Sunday crash in which a Rhea County volunteer firefighter drove a firetruck into a minivan and killed an 11-month-old boy, officials said.
Devon Pilcher, of Dayton, was pronounced dead Sunday night at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Benjamin Harrison reported Monday.
Firefighter Charles Roberts, 31, of Dayton, was charged with failure to yield the right of way, the THP said.
The 12th Judicial District attorney’s office will review the case and see if further charges will be filed, the THP said.
Ricky Pilcher, the boy’s father, said Monday that he is angry.
“If that firefighter had been looking, my son would be alive today,” Mr. Pilcher said as he was making funeral arrangements for his only son.
“I screamed out at him, while they were working on my son, ‘Why didn’t you see me?’”
Efforts to reach Mr. Roberts on Monday were unsuccessful.
According to the THP, Mr. Pilcher was driving east on state Highway 30 about 4 p.m. Sunday in a 2005 Chevrolet Uplander minivan. Devon was a passenger.
Mr. Roberts, driving a 1980 Mack fire engine, was heading south on White Oak Road. He stopped the firetruck at the intersection of White Oak Road, New Union Road and Highway 30, Trooper Harrison said.
As Mr. Pilcher drove through the intersection, Mr. Roberts drove the firetruck into the intersection and struck the driver’s side door of the minivan, Trooper Harrison said.
The van veered off an embankment and struck a telephone pole, and Devon was thrown out.
“I was wondering where my son was,” Mr. Pilcher said. “I was screaming his name.”
Mr. Pilcher found his boy a few feet away from the Uplander.
Devon was taken to Rhea Medical Center and flown to Erlanger hospital. Mr. Pilcher was treated and released from Rhea Medical Center for minor injuries, he said.
Firefighter Darryl King, 39, of Dayton, a passenger in the firetruck, also was treated and released from Rhea Medical Center, Trooper Harrison said.
Rhea County Fire Chief Billy Cranfield declined comment, saying the accident still was being investigated.