MOUNT LIBERTY — A 26-year-old Fredericktown man suffered serious injuries when his Dodge left the roadway while he was driving northeast on Ohio 3 near Mount Liberty around 12 this morning.
According to Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Sam Criswell, Jacob Morningstar’s vehicle left the left side of the roadway, spun, and flipped onto its side. The truck slammed into a tree, which crushed the cab, trapping the driver.
Firefighters from Central Ohio Joint Fire District, Porter-Kingston, Hartford and Homer all responded and worked for 50 minutes to complete the complicated extrication.
COJFD Lt. David Miller said equipment from four rescue trucks were used to free the victim. “That cab was completely crushed,” Miller said.
The COJFD had been dispatched just two minutes before to a chimney fire at 8923 Dunham Road nearby. Miller said as the firefighters passed the wreck, the decision was made to divert to help the trapped driver.
“I decided the life safety of the wreck was more important at that time,” Miller, the incident commander, explained. “We knew we had an injured person and an engine from Mount Vernon was already on its way to the chimney fire.”
COJFD Chief Joe Porter and the MVFD responded to the chimney fire, which was out when they arrived.
MedFlight was called to transport Morningstar, who was taken by COJFD squad to the COJFD station where a landing zone had been set up by Homer FD.
Criswell said this morning the crash remained under investigation, and no charges have been filed at this time.
