Portage Fire District volunteer firefighter Timothy Johnson was en route to a fire that engulfed a bowling alley when the crash occurred
By Vince Guerrieri
The Port Clinton News Herald
SALEM TOWNSHIP, Ohio — An Elmore man is dead and a volunteer firefighter was in critical condition after a car accident Friday night.
Ian Hoffman, 24, of Rice Street, was killed in the accident.
Timothy Johnson, 41, a volunteer firefighter for the Portage Fire District, was taken to Magruder Hospital and then transported by LifeFlight to Medical University of Ohio, where he remained in critical condition Saturday. Johnson was driving his own truck, but was headed to a fire at Clay Center Recreation. There was no information available Sunday on his condition.
Hoffman was a passenger in a 1999 Mazda Protege driven by Olivia Duty, 20, of Woodville, traveling west on Oak Harbor South East Road around 11 p.m. Friday. Duty stopped for the stop sign at Ohio 19 and pulled into the intersection, traveling northbound, and then tried to turn west onto Portage River South Road.
Johnson was traveling north on Ohio 19 in his 2004 GMC Sierra truck. Ottawa County had requested help from any available firefighters to keep the blaze — which engulfed Clay Center Recreation — from spreading.
The first firefighters, from Allen-Clay Joint Fire District, were called to the bowling alley at 10:18 p.m. The business closed early, around 9:30, so nobody was in the building when the fire started.
By the time firefighters got there, the building was fully ablaze.
"There was fire from front to back," Deputy Chief Denny Hartman said. "It was really cooking. We weren't going to stop the fire."
While he was en route to the fire, Johnson's pickup struck the left rear of Duty's car, which went off the road and into a field. Johnson's truck went off the road and hit a tree.
Johnson was not wearing a seat belt, but his air bag did deploy. The air bags in Duty's car did not deploy. Hoffman wasn't wearing a seat belt. It is unknown if Duty, who was taken by Life Flight to MUO, was wearing a seat belt. She was listed in stable condition Saturday, but no information was available Sunday.
No charges have been filed. The Sandusky Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol is investigating, and don't believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
The Ohio Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by officers from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, Mid County EMS, Portage District Fire Department, Toledo St. Vincent Life Flight and Terry's Towing.
The State Fire Marshal's Office and Allen-Clay Joint Fire District are investigating the cause of the fire. Hartman couldn't put a monetary figure on the damage, but said the building was a total loss.
My Opinion
Here is yet another case of improperly clearing an intersection, excessive speed, failure to use safety devices and poor judgement. To clear an intersection, whether it's green or not, you're still supposed to slow down, not to mention, he was in his personal vehicle which he shouldn't be speeding. Neither man was wearing a seat belt which both should have been. Airbags are directional for the most part, so they may or may not go off if struck on the left side as the airbags are most likely just the front impact ones, so they probably wouldn't go off. Which is just one more reason why the man was killed. Johnson was lucky to have his airbags go off. In any case, using better judgement, less speed and proper protocols would help to prevent these situations. My condolences to the Hoffman family and a quick speedy recovery from Hoffman. Lessons learned I hope and maybe we can prevent this situation from happening.
Firefighter Brad MacMillan
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