By Brian Niemietz
New York Daily News
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A “major crash” left five people, including an infant, injured and a FedEx truck dangling from an upstate New York bridge Thursday morning.
The West Henrietta Fire Department, along with state police and paramedics, responded to calls “on I-90 eastbound for a reported tractor-trailer rollover crash with the truck hanging off the bridge” in Pittsford, N.Y., around 8:30 a.m., according to fire officials.
“Units arrived to find a two-vehicle crash involving the tractor-trailer with tandem trailers and an SUV,” the West Henrietta Fire Department wrote on Facebook.
Three other fire departments were called to secure the area, where one trailer had fallen onto the highway below and another hung suspended between the road and the truck’s cabin, which remained on the bridge supported by a guardrail. The truck’s driver managed to remove himself from his badly damaged vehicle.
Due to the semi’s precarious position, authorities established “a collapse zone” under the bridge on Mendon Center Road and prepared for a possible fire.
“Companies mitigated a large fuel and oil spill and secured hazards,” fire officials added.
Roughly 100 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled, according to WHAM-TV in Rochester. Five people were reportedly treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Hazmat crews and various recovery agencies remained on the scene.
West Henrietta Fire Chief Mark Cholach told reporters the truck’s trailers were empty, which may have saved the driver from being pulled off the bridge and onto the road below. That fall would have likely been “not survivable,” according to Cholach.
“I’m quite flabbergasted he did survive with very minor injuries,” the chief said.
Cholach called it a “miracle” the truck’s driver was able to get himself to safety.
The FedEx vehicle was operating out of Pennsylvania.
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