(The Tampa Tribune posted the following story by Keith Morelli on its website on July 31.)
TAMPA, Fla. — A 57-year-old CSX Transportation railroad worker from Brandon was trapped in the wreckage of a train wreck early Thursday morning, and was extricated only after a firefighter brought his own metal cutting equipment to the scene.
The collision between a railroad car and a dump truck occurred one minute before 2 a.m. near 2790 Guy N. Verger Blvd. in the Port of Tampa, said Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade.
Firefighters and paramedics arrived to find Louis Lucas of Brandon trapped in the twisted metal.
Wade said Lucas was standing on a ladder on the outside of a rail car as it was being pushed into place by a locomotive. A dump truck crossed the tracks and was struck by the car, Wade said, pining Lucas’ legs.
He remained conscious, Wade said, but had suffered severe injuries to both his legs. Extricating him required special, heavy-metal cutting equipment, Wade said, and the department had the equipment stored in a trailer back at the Station 1, a couple of miles away in downtown. But it would take valuable time to get someone to go back, hook up the trailer and return, he said.
Firefighter Patrick Murphy is a master welder and had the needed equipment on his personal truck parked back at Station 1.
“We didn’t save two hours,” Wade said. “We saved about 20 minutes using (Murphy’s) personal equipment.”
Murphy caught a ride to the station in a Tampa police car with lights and sirens on and was escorted back to the scene the same way, Wade said.
Murphy began cutting, while other firefighters protected Lucas from the sparks by covering him with wet blankets and fire department bunker gear. After an hour’s work, Lucas was freed and taken to Tampa General Hospital by helicopter an hour-and-a-half after the initial call.
“He was conscious the whole time,” Wade said. “Firefighters kept a conversation going, keeping him calm, keeping his mind off the extreme amount of pain he was suffering.”
Through Wade, Murphy declined a request for an interview.
“He doesn’t want the spotlight,” Wade said.
Damage to the truck or car was undetermined, Wade said. The train did not derail.