Staff writer
Two Marion County rescue teams needed a little rescuing themselves Monday morning.
A Peabody fire truck and Marion ambulance both slid off Sunflower Rd. while responding to two separate accidents just north of US-50 near curves in the road.
Marion resident Lloyd Davies and his son, Nicholas, were traveling in a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix when their vehicle slid off the road.
“He hit a slick spot,” responding officer Wilma Mueller said. “His car went off and landed in the creek.”
The Davies were uninjured. However, while undersheriff David Huntley responded to the scene, three ambulances and Peabody fire were dispatched to the same spot for a second accident that involved a family of six, Mueller said.
Mike and Holly Pereillo and family, children ages 2 to 17, also were southbound on Sunflower Rd. when their vehicle slid off near where the Davies’ car sat in the creek. All except Mike were transported to St. Luke first. The 17-year-old was then transported to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
While emergency crew chief Gene Winkler approached the Pereillo’s vehicle in an ambulance from the north, the ambulance’s front right tire went off the roadway, and the ambulance became stuck, Mueller said.
On the south side of the accident, firefighters were slipping while getting out of the vehicle, according to Peabody Fire Chief Mark Penner.
“It was difficult to walk,” Mueller said. “It was that slick.”
The fire truck also was temporarily immobilized when its right rear tire left the roadway, Mueller said.
A tow truck was called, however, both vehicles were pulled out by a private vehicle before it arrived.