A driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the truck he was driving collided with a tree in South Surrey’s Morgan Heights neighbourhood Wednesday (April 3) evening.
Surrey Fire Service crews responded to the collision shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 3100-block of 160 Street, arriving to find the truck had collided with a tree just off the road, reportedly at a high rate of speed, according to a freelance photographer who was at the crash site.
The truck sustained heavy damage to the driver’s side of the vehicle, with the driver trapped for nearly 50 minutes, as firefighters used the Jaws of Life, cutters and rams to extricate him.
Surrey Fire Services assistant chief of operations Greg McRobbie said fire crews found a single-occupant male in a pickup who was pinned inside when they arrived at the crash site.
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“It was a very difficult extrication because the patient was trapped in there – crews had to actually be working on both sides of the vehicle – while they were lifting with the spreaders on the passenger side, they were having to cut metal away on the driver’s side after removing the doors to get the patient out,” he explained.
“The crews did an awesome job,” he said, noting there was a tree in the way that hampered their efforts.
“BC Ambulance Service was on scene attending to the patient as crews were working on extrication.”
The driver were transported to hospital by BC Ambulance Service workers.
Surrey RCMP are investigating the single-vehicle collision, Cpl. Sarbjit Sangha confirmed Thursday.
The driver was taken to hospital “with serious injuries but stable condition,” she said.