Two siblings and cousin died, others injured
Unexpected fatalities are very difficult for family members, especially when there are young children involved.
However firefighters and medical first responders who are first on the scene, are impacted as well.
A tree that fell on a vehicle on East S Ave, just west of South 47th Street in Climax Township March 30 left two siblings and a cousin of the siblings dead according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department.
Three other people in the vehicle were also injured.
After notification of the family was completed the Kalamazoo County Sherriff’s Office released the ages of the three deceased children. They are a two-year-old female from Calhoun County and a four-year-old male from Calhoun County, who are siblings, and an eleven-year-old female, a cousin of the siblings, also of Calhoun County.
Three other individuals were treated at local hospitals for their injuries. One of the injured was in critical condition and the other two were in stable condition when a Sheriff Office release was issued March 30.
The names of the deceased or the injured were not released.
As word started to get out on social media sites there were children who died and others injured, thoughts and prayers to the family dominated the posts. However Climax Township Fire Chief Scott Smith said these types of calls are hard on firefighters also.
“It’s a bad deal when you’ve got young firefighters that have kids the same age. You sit there looking at these kids, trying to cut them out of a car thinking that these are my kids,” said the Climax Township fire chief.
Smith said when firefighters respond to disturbing calls like the fatality call they responded to last Sunday, a debriefing is held after the call. He guessed there were eight to 10 firefighters from the Climax Township Fire Department that responded, five from Pavilion Charter Township, and one from Galesburg-Charleston Township and South County who also responded to the call.
Smith said firefighters faced more then one challenge, starting with downed trees that prevented them from getting to the scene quicker.
“The biggest challenge was just getting there. There were so many trees down in the road. That was the first challenge. Once we got there on scene, the tree was on top of the car so we had to cut that off the top of the car,” said Smith.
The Climax Township fire chief adds once firefighters did have the tree removed they then had to use extrication equipment to get to the people inside the vehicle.
This incident remains under investigation, however at this time the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department said it appears weather is the main contributing factor to this accident.
Smith said it appears the family was traveling to a relative’s house when the tree fell and struck the vehicle. He said it was one of the only large trees in the area.
“It’s one of those (calls) you just can’t explain. You do what you’ve got to do and see what comes out of it,” adds the Climax Township fire chief.
According to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department, at approximately 5:41 p.m. the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a traffic collision at the location in Climax Township.
Smith said three Life EMS ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Intially, there was a request for a helicopter, however the estimated arrival time was approximately two hours and the request was cancelled
Besides the Climax Township and Pavilion Charter Township Fire Departments, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and Life EMS.
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