Busy Sunday for Tarkington Firefighters

TARKINGTON, December 20, 2009 -Sunday morning started off early for Tarkington firefighters as they were dispatched to a series of calls starting at 3:00AM.

The first call was for a motor vehicle accident on SH105 just east of Davis Hill. Assistant Chief Dalton Gregory arrived on location to find a silver Ford F150 had driven off of the road and the driver was in the vehicle. Cypress Lakes VFD also responded to assist with traffic control while a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper conducted a field sobriety test.

As Chief Gregory was returning to the station from the first call, he witnessed another vehicle leave the road on SH321 just south of SH105. After checking the status of the driver, he and Assistant Chief Evert Doucette secured the scene and directed traffic until the arrival of Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who administered another field sobriety test on the driver.

The last call came in shortly before 5:00AM, this time for a vehicle fire on SH321 just south of Cannon’s Grocery. Chiefs Gregory and Doucette responded in Engine 51, along with two firefighters in Tanker 51, to discover a white Ford pickup fully involved.

The call could have been much worse, as the pickup was originally parked next to the residence. Heroics on the part of Tarkington resident Thomas Porter kept the fire from spreading to the structure. Porter crawled under the burning truck prior to firefighter’s arrival to attach a tow rope and then pulled the burning vehicle away from the house.

The Ford pickup was completely destroyed by the fire. Unfortunately, the owner only carried liability insurance on the vehicle.

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