At 10:47 am the Lawrence County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a one vehicle accident with the victim trapped in the vehicle with serious injuries. Smithville Fire Department was paged and responded with several firefighters.
Strawberry Fire Department was already out on a medical call in their Rescue truck and offered assistance, Smithville ask then to respond as well. The accident was on Hwy 117 near the intersection of Lawrence 269. Early reports stated the vehicle left the roadway and struck a bridge on Hwy 117.
Smithville Fire Department arrived on scene first and immediately requested the next available medical helicopter to the scene stating the injuries appeared severe. An ambulance from AET Ambulance staged at Black Rock was also dispatched to the scene. Strawberry and Smithville Fire worked attempting to remove the female victim from the wreckage, additional rescue equipment was requested from the Walnut Ridge Fire Department but was disregarded at 11:18 am after firefighters were able to free the victim from the wreckage.
Additional rescue equipment from the Imboden Volunteer Fire Department was offered by Chief Jim Jones and asked to be placed on standby.
At 11:02 Survival Flight was in route to the area, Lawrence County OES was on scene and assisted with the landing coordinates. Hwy 117 was closed and the helicopter was landed in the highway to evacuate the patient.
Survival Flight was on the ground at 11:21 am according to firefighters at the landing zone. At 11:23 it was reported the flight crew was assessing the patient’s injuries.
The patient was flown to an area hospital for treatment of injuries, no names have been released at this time, the accident is being investigated by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and the Arkansas State Police.
For more information on the Walnut Ridge Fire Department visit www.walnutridgefd.com .
For more information on the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office visit www.lawrencecountysheriffsoffice.com .
For more information on the Imboden Volunteer Fire Department visit www.imbodenarkansas.com .