At 6:04 AM on what is certainly going to be a warm and toasty Saturday morning, the call went out for Wake Forest Engine 2, Wake Forest Ladder 1, and Wake Forest Battalion 1 to kindly make an appearance on Capital Boulevard for an accident at Burlington Mills Road.
And being the true slack-ass journalist that I am, the mere fact that I was awake determined that I was going to cover this accident for you. Sometimes things just begin with “what the hell, I’m up” here at the Wake Forest News. Do you realize how hard I almost have to work to be the fifth best paper in a three paper town?
However I did manage to put out 600 words on this puppy. FTW!
The accident was actually on the bridge passing over the train tracks heading north after Burlington Mills Road but that’s kind of hard to dispatch quickly. “All units, please respond to the northbound side of Capital Boulevard on that old bridge that passes over the train tracks after the collision place and before those small houses on the right, you know where I’m talking about, right?”
I have to admit that in my years living in Wake Forest I never imagined I’d be out walking the bridge over the tracks, early on a Saturday morning, but there it is.
The accident gave me an opportunity to look at the plaque on the bridge that said the bridge had been built in 1941. And for a 73-year-old bridge, that sucker held up like a champ. It will be interesting to see how they will wind up repairing that mess though. Will they do a historic bridge repair to return it to its historical appearance or just slap a metal guard rail over the wound.
Luckily the driver, with a tasteful matching clutch, was apparently unharmed in the accident. He did however appear to have a smartphone stuck to his ear or his professional texting finger through nearly the entire rescue process.
When I tried to talk to him while he was on the phone, he did express “an irrational fear of EMS.” He said for him they freaked him out like spiders freak out other people. To which I responded, “alrighty then.” Otherwise, the dude is walking away from the accident with no trip in an Eastern Wake truck. I did not observe any spiders at the accident scene.
The passenger however is the one that was being slid into Eastern Wake EMS 64. It’s nice to see those EMS folks over here covering the accident. I don’t get a chance to run into them that often except from time-to-time when people run into other things.
From the looks of the scene and skid marks it looks like the driver did something of a Samba off the right guard rail and wound up getting a nose job from a collision with the elderly bridge. The bridge needs a walker now.
The Samba
The passenger, allegedly from Youngsville, was complaining of neck and knee pain. Looks like he found the perfect way to end a late night, with a trip in Eastern Wake EMS 64 to the hospital.
As always the Wake Forest Police Department, EMS, and the Wake Forest Fire Department were all friendly professionals who did there best to provide top-notch care on a bad morning for a couple of guys and a bridge.
Don’t worry old bridge, we still love you.