On Wednesday, March 11th, around 11:30am, two of our technicians helped save a man's life on Chippenham on the Willey Bridge. Senior Systems Engineer Joel Woodward and Systems Engineer Chad Christianson were on their way to a client when they passed a smoking van on the side of the road. Once Chad realized that there was a man in the van who was wildly flailing his arms, he told Joel that something was wrong and that they needed to turn around and see what was happening to the man in the van. They got off at the next exit and made their way back to the same stretch of road. It was unknown why someone would stay inside a burning van.
By the time they arrived, a woman had stopped and managed to get the man out of the driver's seat and onto the ground, but he was still in harm's way. At this point it was obvious that the man was paraplegic and would have fallen into traffic if he had opened the driver's door to escape. The woman who initially helped had to leave the scene, and the van was billowing acrid smoke with visible flames beginning to rise. Chad and Joel knew that the van might blow up and dragged the man about 100 ft away. The man pleaded to retrieve his motorized chair, but the flames and smoke had already taken over when they tried.
An off-duty EMT stopped as well and told Joel and Chad that the paraplegic man needed to be moved even farther away. The van was now completely engulfed in flames and they could hear the explosions of batteries, tires, and his expensive mobility equipment. The man was uncomfortable on the ground, so Joel and the EMT carried him up into the bed of the EMT's truck. Chad captured still pictures and short video clips of the rescue and the fire. Drivers on Chippenham Parkway continued to drive right through the black smoke clouds and ignore the situation at hand. After about 15 minutes, Richmond City Fire was on the scene beginning smoke suppression.
After Joel and Chad saw that the man was safe with his brother and Richmond Fire had the fire under control, they felt safe leaving the scene and going to the client they had set out to see.
When they returned to the office, they told the story of the rescue, and remarked that they wished they knew who the man was so that they could possibly help him with replacing his wheelchair. Bethany McQuillen called the local news channels WRIC, NBC12, and CBS6 WTVR to report the incident. The reporters of the local news stations were able to track down the paraplegic man's name and contact information as Hayssam Agharaad of the Regency area in Richmond, VA. Once Hayssam's story was heard on the news, many came forward to help him replace his motorized wheelchair and lift van.
News Coverage
WRIC Channel 8: http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=9991329
WTVR Channel 6: http://www.wtvr.com/Global/SearchResults.asp?vendor=wss&qu=%22Paraplegic+Rescued+From+Burning+Van%22
NBC12 Channel 12: http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?s=9992691
Richmond Times Dispatch: http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/RESQ14_20090313-221705/231340/
If you would like to help, please contact Bethany McQuillen at bmcquillen@wsilc.com or call the office at 804-565-6700.