January 5, 2006

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Kaladar man rescues transport driver

 by Jeff Green

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“It sounded just like thunder,” said Peter Tryon in describing the noise he heard coming from Bence Motors at about 9:45 p.m. on December 8. Peter, who lives on Highway 7 just west of Hwy 41, then looked out and saw fire.

“I said, oh, god, Joe’s [Joe Bence] cars are on fire.”

A transport truck, headed east on Highway 7, swerved and headed across the Highway through the westbound lane and into the parking lot of the Kaladar Shell station at Hwy. 41. After taking out the Shell sign the truck hit several new and used cars at Bence Motors before coming to rest at the southwest corner  of the building.

Peter Tryon and his wife Kim took immediate action. Kim went over to the nearby OPP station to get the police and Peter jumped into his truck and went over to the accident scene.

“The lady at the Shell had a fire extinguisher. She said ‘he’s still in the cab’ and I took the extinguisher and went to the truck, which was on fire,” Peter Tryon said of what he found when he arrived at the scene. “A gentleman had opened the passenger door but couldn’t wake the driver. I climbed upon the running board and hollered several times until the driver finally came to. He couldn’t see anything for the smoke so I told him to follow my voice, and he climbed over to the passenger door and out of the truck. We helped him to the Shell station, and the ambulance came a few minutes later. He only had a few cuts and bruises.”

Peter Tryon then remained on the scene helping emergency personnel divert traffic on highway 7 for another three hours.

 “You don’t have time to think when something like that happens,” Peter Tryon said, “the man was still in the truck and someone had to get him out of it."

Luckily, the accident took place at 9:45pm, after the restaurant at the Kaladar Shell had closed for the evening. Otherwise, it would have struck cars or people in the restaurant parking lot.

Several cars on the Bence Motors lot suffered damage, and a few were destroyed, including a brand new vehicle that had been sold and had yet to be picked up by the new owner. The busy garage at Bence Motors suffered dadmage as well, but was back up and running quickly.

The large electric signs at both Bence Motors and Kaladar Shell were destroyed. The truck driver was taken to hospital and later released.