(Suwanee, Ga., Nov. 12, 2019) - Firefighters responded on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 4:39pm, to a report of a vehicle accident with an entrapment on 85 North Bound, south of Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in unincorporated Suwanee.

Crews arrived to find three vehicles involved to include one horse trailer, one box truck, and one semi-trailer. The Incident Commander ensured the deployment of a hose line for precautionary measures prior to performing a size-up of the incident. An Assessment of the scene revealed that the horse trailer was carrying three horses, one of which appeared to be entrapped with injuries. The box truck was carrying acetylene tanks with the potential for a Hazmat incident. Further assessment of the box truck revealed heavy damage to the vehicle but all acetylene tanks remained intact. Once that was confirmed, the arduous process of freeing the horses was initiated. Fire personnel did a thorough assessment of the damaged trailer and were able to assist two of the horses without the use of any heavy-duty equipment.  These horses were able to stand up on their own after being removed from the trailer.  It was determined that extrication tools would be needed in order to free the third horse. Firefighters did an outstanding job of cutting open the horse trailer without causing any further injury to the horse. Once extricated, the horse was able to walk despite its sustained injuries.  A veterinarian was requested to respond to the incident to determine the best course of action for the injured horse. Animal control was contacted to provide a trailer to transport the horses. Two human patients were evaluated by paramedics and one was transported to the emergency room, non-emergency, with non-life threatening injuries.  The second human patient declined being transported to the hospital for further evaluation and signed a medical release. The Hazmat team applied granular absorbents to help clean up the diesel fuel that had leaked onto the highway.  Once the wreckage was removed from the highway, all fire units returned to service.

EQUIPMENT AT THE SCENE INCLUDED: 2- Fire Engines, 1-Squad, 1-Hazmat Truck, 2-Medic Units,1-Battalion Chief, and Animal Control.