Firefighters used the so-called Jaws of Life to reach a man trapped in his SUV after an early morning wreck on Fourth Plain Boulevard.
The older model Chevrolet Blazer was stuck beneath a semi-truck trailer after the vehicles collided. The first Vancouver Fire Department unit reached the scene at about 3:36 a.m.
The man was removed from the vehicle using the extrication tool and transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Later, as firefighters worked to untangle the vehicle and the semi-trailer a fire ignited. Additional fire units were called to the scene to help extinguish the flames.
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After that, “We used jacks and airbags to stabilize the vehicles so when we pulled we didn’t have any friction issues,” said Chris Moen, a Vancouver Fire Department spokesman.
Traffic on the Fourth Plain Boulevard bridge over Interstate 5 was closed for about two hours, from 3:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., Moen said. The freeway was mostly unaffected, he added. “You had to get off east instead of west,” Moen said.
According to some reports, freeway traffic has been slower than normal this morning.
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