On September 9, at 5:10am, Chester County Fireboard alerted the West Grove Fire Company for an auto accident with entrapment at the intersection of Route 41 and Guernsey Road. Initial reports stated that a tractor trailer struck a car and two victims were trapped in the car. Within minutes of dispatch, apparatus from all three stations responded. PA State Troopers were the first on the scene and requested EMS to expedite due to the severity of the two injured victims in the car. Two minutes later Medic 94 arrived and initiated triage and patient care. Deputy 22 arrived shortly after and assumed “Gap Newport Pike Command” at 5:22am. Rescue 22 was the next due to arrive; crews went right to work with stabilization of the vehicle and setting up the hydraulic rescue tools for the extrication of the two victims. Once the vehicle was cribbed and secure, crews found they were able to remove the passenger through the passengers side door without hydraulic tools. The remainder of the crews from Rescue 12, Squad 22 and Engine 32 worked on removal of the drivers side door using hydraulic cutters and spreaders. As soon as access was made to the victims the EMS crews, with ALS assistance, handled patient care and packaging. Once packaged, the victims were transported to local trauma hospitals.
Route 41 was shut down in both directions for several hours during this incident. Fire police from both West Grove and Avondale coordinated the detour of the highway. PennDOT was also requested to the scene with a dump truck of sand due to a large quantity of motor oil that was spread over several hundred feet of the highway.
Crews remained on-scene until 7:21am.