TARKINGTON, Texas — Shortly after 4 p.m. Monday evening, Tarkington firefighters were dispatched to the type of call that haunts every firefighter's nightmares: a fire truck has been involved in an accident.
Tarkington and Cleveland firefighters were already on the scene of a barn fire on CR 2291 when their pagers went off for a motor vehicle accident involving a fire truck on CR 2285 near CR 2286. Tarkington Fire Chief Paul Gregory immediately detached Cleveland E44 along with Cleveland Assistant Chief Melvin Cates to respond to the accident while additional Tarkington units responded from the station.
Units arrived on scene to find that Cypress Lakes Tanker 821 had left the roadway and rolled over, ejecting the driver.
The driver, 22-year old Clayton Evans, had sustained very serious injuries. He was transported by City of Cleveland EMS to a landing zone at Tarkington High School where he was then airlifted to Hermann Memorial Hospital in Houston. As of Tuesday morning, Evans had fractured vertebrae, a broken leg, and multiple facial fractures and was scheduled for surgery. However, he did have feeling and mobility in his extremities and was alert and conscious.
The preliminary investigation indicates Evans lost control after exiting a curve in the road and overcorrected before the truck left the road and rolled over.
CR 2285 was shut down for several hours as Texas Department of Public Safety troopers investigated the accident and the wreck was cleared away.
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