When crews arrived on scene, the victim was out of the vehicle and was packaged for transport with Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services and taken to Saint Thomas Rutherford to await LifeFlight. The victim received severe burns to his lower body and was taken to Vanderbilt Burn Center.
According to Acting Shift Commander Mark McCluskey, the driver made contact with a metal light pole (that illuminates the interstate at Medical Center Parkway). As mentioned, the car was fully involved when crews arrived on scene. McCluskey said that magnesium explosions caused by the water and magnesium reacting when Firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire, made it more difficult to fight.
“These ‘explosions’ look like giant sparklers,” said McCluskey. Crews were eventually able to extinguish the vehicle and the grass burning as a result of the blaze.
Fire Marshal Carl Peas will follow up with the burn victim. Murfreesboro Police Department will be investigating the accident and all accident inquiries should be filtered through their agency.
*On a side note, Training Coordinator Nicole Miller and the two new employees were able to "catch" the call with Ladder 9's crew, making this their first incident while at MFRD.