In The News
Fire chief en route to work instrumental in truck driver’s rescue
DUARTE, Calif. — Sam DiGiovanna was driving to work about 9:45 a.m. Saturday when he saw a plume of smoke rising above Interstate 210 in Duarte, Calif., according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
DiViovanna, a training chief at the Glendale (Calif.) Verdugo Fire Academy, DiGiovanna looked for the source.
"I start moving over to the right, and it's not a car fire, it's a truck that's flipped over and smashed like a pancake," he said. "I thought to myself, 'This is going to be a rescue . . .' and I'm looking for the victim . . . and he's right on this little embankment."
The 28-year-old truck driver’s name was not released.
Witnesses told DiGiovanna that the big-rig driver was heading west when his truck shot off the freeway, flipping onto its back on the Mount Olive Drive off ramp.
"He just hit perfect on there," DiGiovanna said. "If he (had) missed five feet on either side, he would have fallen an additional 20 to 30 feet into the storm drain."
The man kicked out his windows and threw himself out of the truck, dropping about 30 feet down into the storm drain, and then crawled back up the hill, according to witnesses. By then, his truck had burst into flames.
DiGiovanna said he was stunned that the man had managed to get out on his own.
"I'm thinking, 'I've got to put on gear and go make a rescue,' but he's already out of the truck," DiGiovanna said. "I'm thinking, 'How the hell?' "
Officials said the truck had veered to the right of the road for unknown reasons, jack-knifed and then overturned, blocking the freeway off ramp.
California Highway Patrol Officer Jose Nuñez said it was unclear exactly how the man got out of the truck.
"I didn't save his life and pull him from the burning wreckage," DiGiovanna said. "I just stabilized him, calmed him down until the paramedics got there. He was in shock. He was just out of it."
DiGiovanna said the man tried many times to give him his wallet.
"I don't know why he just kept wanting to give me his wallet. Maybe he thought I saved him. I thought he was trying to pay me off," DiGiovanna said. "I said, 'OK, just sit still, calm down. Let's just say still.' My main thing was to keep him stable. I didn't know if he had any internal bleeding, if he had any broken bones or anything internal. I just wanted to make sure he remained stable until paramedics got there."
The man was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in stable condition, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. David Middleton.
He was hospitalized with serious injuries to a leg and other minor to moderate injuries, Nunez said.
"He definitely was in a world of hurt when we were with him," Middleton said. County Fire paramedic Jerry Tarango, who helped treat the man at the scene, said he had good vital signs and "responded normally."
"I've been in the fire service for 30 years basically all the way up to the fire chief," DiGiovanna said. "I've seen a lot of things, and I was shocked that he was out of there."