Emergency responders from Westport and Fairfield were called to the scene of a serious collision on Interstate 95 on Thursday afternoon, where a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck had crashed. The incident resulted in injuries to at least one driver, and required a complex rescue operation.
The crash occurred around 1:15 p.m. between exits 19 and 18 on I-95 southbound, near the Westport/Fairfield border, according to Assistant Fire Chief Brian Meadows. Both vehicles veered off the highway and tumbled down an embankment after the initial impact. The pickup truck landed on its roof, partially crushed beneath the larger tractor-trailer, and suffered extensive damage, the report stated.
Westport Fire Engines 5 and 2, along with Rescue truck 3 and the shift commander, were immediately dispatched to the scene, just over the border in Fairfield. Fairfield emergency crews were already on site upon their arrival, Meadows said.
While occupants of both trucks managed to exit the wreckage on their own, firefighters were forced to hoist at least one injured driver up the highway embankment. They utilized a stokes basket and rope system to transport the victim to a waiting ambulance. Details concerning the number of injuries and the extent of those injuries were not immediately available.
Crews from the Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service and AMR were also on-site to provide medical assistance to the injured. State Police troopers managed traffic control. Westport firefighters cleared the scene around 1:50 p.m., Meadows confirmed, while Fairfield crews remained to oversee the removal of the trucks from the embankment.
