Incident # 21-05890 - Four people were injured in a three vehicle MVC on Augusta Hwy (SC Hwy 61) north of Byrd Farm Road Monday afternoon 16-August at 15:16. Initial calls to 9-1-1 reported one car was on fire and one patient was not breathing. A Firefighter-Paramedic on Engine 5 arrived to find the rural highway blocked with two heavily damaged vehicles on the southbound side and one heavily damaged vehicle on the northbound side. A road maintenance contractor was performing work on the northbound shoulder and a flagger had a white Chevrolet Impala and a Red Toyota RAV4 stopped in the southbound lane. A southbound Nissan Altima traveling at a high rate of speed struck the Rav4, pushing it forward into the Impala. The Altima then slid into the northbound ditch and caught fire. The road crew used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire. One of the injured people in the Impala was an off duty EMT. Despite being injured, he rendered aid to the other injured people. The unrestrained driver of the Altima was not breathing and the driver of the Rav4 was trapped in her car with multiple injuries, including a head injury. Engine 5 requested two additional Fire-Rescue Ambulances, a rescue unit and a medical helicopter. Augusta Hwy was blocked due to the wreckage. Northbound traffic was diverted to Byrd Farm Road by the road construction crew.
Fire-Rescue personnel and the off-duty EMT began resuscitative efforts on the driver of the Altima. Other crews performed the extrication of the driver of the RAV4 using Holmatro Pentheon Rescue Tools. Fire-Rescue Medic 26 transported the adult male driver of the Altima to a field on Augusta Hwy near Blue Sky Ln to meet with the CARE Flight Helicopter. Engine 36 set up a landing zone at the location. Medic 7 transported the driver of the RAV4 to the Trauma Center at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston. Medic 9 transported the two occupants of the Impala to Trident Medical Center. CARE Flight flew the unconscious driver of the Altima to Trident Medical Center. He remained in critical condition. Augusta Hwy was blocked for three hours until the wreckage could be cleared. The SC Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
