On Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 PM, the Smith Township Fire Department responded to the report of a two vehicle head-on crash in front of 3171 North U.S. 33, 1 mile south of Churubusco.

Chief Roger Bennett was first to arrive on-scene and found a Chrysler Convertible and Buick Sedan in a head-on motor vehicle accident. The occupants of the Buick were setting on the side of the road complaining of minor injuries. The driver of the Chrysler was pinned in the vehicle suffering from serious lower leg and head injuries.

First arriving rescue crews deployed the Jaws of Life to remove the driver’s door and roof. Rescue crews then had to use the hydraulic ram to lift the dash of the car off of the driver’s legs. The driver’s condition was determined to be serious, so the Parkview Hospital Samaritan Helicopter was called to the scene. It took rescue crews 20 minutes to extricate the driver.

The patient was taken to Medic 21 on-scene while crew’s set-up a landing zone for Samaritan in a near-by commercial area, the patient was then transported by Samaritan in serious condition to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. The occupants of the other vehicle were transported by ground ambulance to an area hospital in stable condition.