A Draper fire battalion chief is expected to make a full recovery after a car lost control and struck him as he attempted to help another crashed motorist Thursday night on southbound Interstate 15.
The Utah Highway Patrol tweeted that battalion chief Bart Vawdrey was “doing great" and that he “doesn’t have any severe injuries.” He’s expected to be released from the hospital on Friday. Earlier, the UHP said he had been transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
In a statement, Draper Fire Chief Clint Smith said the accident “could have been avoided by simply slowing down for the current weather conditions and paying attention to the surroundings. Firefighters and law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day for the protection of others. We plead with everyone to please slow down , eliminate distractions, and focus on their surroundings when traveling in adverse weather conditions.”
Vawdrey was on the scene of a two-car crash about 8 p.m. just south of 14600 South when he was hit. A UHP trooper dealt with the involved car on the right shoulder, while Vawdrey took the vehicle on left shoulder. A car then hit Vawdrey and pinned him against the other crashed vehicle’s bumper. The interstate’s southbound lanes were closed near 14600 South for a medical helicopter to land and take the chief for treatment.
Just after 10 p.m., hospital staff said Vawdrey was stable and moved him out of an emergency room and into another room for observation, according to Unified Fire Authority.
According to UHP, the driver who hit Vawdrey is cooperating with the investigation.
Another Draper battalion chief, 42-year-old Matthew Burchett, was injured on the job Aug. 13 and ultimately died. A tree fell on him while he fought the Mendocino Complex Fire in California. Three other California firefighters were also injured.
It’s been a hard year for the department, Draper spokeswoman Maridene Alexander said.
“They’re good people," she said about the firefighters. “They’re out there when the rest of us are sitting comfortable in our own homes.”
As of 5:20 p.m., state troopers had responded to 154 crashes on Utah roads, nearly all of them a result of drivers going too fast for the snowy and icy conditions or following over vehicles too closely, the department tweeted.
“It’s devastating," Street said. “Every trooper today has been telling people to slow down. You know, we issue citations for going too fast for the conditions in hopes that we can avoiding something like this. That’s our end goal, is to always avoid this type of incident, and for it to happen at the end of the day, when we’re all really exhausted, it hits hard.”
