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Family saved from burning car; 1 dies
By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- A child died and her mother, father and two sisters were injured during a fiery car crash Thursday night on Interstate 275. But authorities said the toll would have been worse if a Hillsborough County firefighter who was headed back to work hadn't plucked the injured family out of the burning car. About 7:30 p.m., Hillsborough firefighter Sean VanAtter was returning to Fire Station 14 in the northern part of the county. He had just driven an ambulance to a Tampa hospital, left it there, and was taking a cab back. The cab got stuck in traffic near the Busch Boulevard exit of I-275. VanAtter saw clouds of black smoke ahead and told the cabbie that he would get out and try to find an extinguisher to quell the flames. He ran toward the smoke. When he got to the crash scene, he heard the news: A Saturn had been rear-ended by a fuel tanker and was on fire. There were people inside. Three children, he was told. VanAtter tried to break one of the car windows with a knife, but couldn't. The driver of the tanker, who was not injured, finally kicked one in. VanAtter started pulling children out of the back seat. "I was just thinking of getting them out of there so they wouldn't burn," he said a few hours later. A motorist who was a nurse stopped to help, and VanAtter gingerly handed her one of the children. He also helped pull the two adults out of the car. Everyone but a 14-month-old child was unconscious. One child, believed to be about 8 years old, died at the scene. Officials said the family would have been trapped in the burning car if VanAtter and the bystanders hadn't worked together to pull them out. The survivors were transported to Tampa General Hospital. The mother, 24, was flown and the rest were taken by ambulance. The mother, father and one of the children are in serious condition. The 14-month-old received minor injuries. The victims' names were unavailable Thursday night. The crash forced authorities to shut down the north and southbound lanes of I-275 while Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigated the crash. According to Trooper T.W. Prescott, a white car had stopped in the offramp to Busch Boulevard. There is construction at the area of the offramp, but it is unclear whether that played a part in the crash. The family's Saturn also was stopped in the offramp, a few cars behind the white car, when it was rear-ended by a Buick. The impact sent the Saturn spinning into northbound traffic, where it was rear-ended by the fuel tanker. It is unclear whether any of the passengers in the Saturn were wearing seat belts, Prescott said. The car's rear was pushed into the back seat and the entire car was charred by the flames. Prescott thinks the impact of the crash caused gas to leak and sparks generated by the car hitting the concrete ignited the gas. VanAtter, who has been a firefighter for seven years and has a 2-year-old son and a daughter on the way, said he doesn't consider himself a hero. "It's what I get paid to do," he said. "It's my job."
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From the Times City Times - South Tampa North of Tampa Marlene Sokol Letters |
