Pine-Strawberry firefighters not only rescued a family from an accident Friday, they also rescued a pet store’s worth of critters.
Paramedics took two adults and one child to Banner Payson Medical Center Feb. 28 after the van they were in crashed 50 feet down an embankment, striking a tree head-on, north of Strawberry on State Route 87, reported Pine-Strawberry Fire Department (PSFD) officials.
The family was traveling home to New Mexico.
“It was fortunate that the male driver, even with head injuries and bleeding, was able to get out of the van and crawl up the steep embankment and flag down a passing car. Otherwise, because the van was well down the embankment and in the brush, it may not have been seen for some time,” said Chief Gary Morris.
It took firefighters nearly an hour to reach, treat, and move the patients given the rough terrain.