Date: 8th October 2008
Time: 1630
Type: RTC, HGV on side, person trapped
Address: Horn Hill, Lowestoft
Initial Attendance: Normanshurst 05, 01 and 02
I was actually at home when the alerter went off – had come home early to do a few bits of painting (DIY not watercolours).
Was jogging up the road when I could hear my name being called. The voice was faint, almost inaudible, but with a definite out-of-breathiness to it. I looked round and could see Dennis pedalling hard for the station. "Put my tally up, put my tally up", came wafting up the road. I waved my acknowledgement as I dodged the traffic on Normanston Drive.
The tip sheet said it was an HGV on its side, person trapped, located at the Asda roundabout at Horn Hill on Lowestoft.
As we went over the bascule bridge traffic was backing up in the two lanes approaching Asda. I had to take it pretty slowly in the oncoming lane hoping that approaching traffic would see us coming. Wrong way round the first roundabout to then be greeted with the sight of an articulated lorry on its left hand side on the Lings roundabout.
The lorry was carrying a forty foot container holding rolls of paper from SCA Recycling on Victoria Road. Witnesses said the driver wasn't driver quickly as he negotiated the roundabout. His load must have shifted as he turned right causes the whole thing to roll to the left. That's 22 tons of paper plus the lorry, making a total of around 39 tons. Luckily no one was standing on the pavement where the truck ended up.
Nothing we can do as heavy lifting is required. We went back to Normanshurst on standby while Green Watch were at the scene waiting for the crane to do its bit.
And to think, on Tuesday night we had a lecture from George Moran all about HGV RTC's. We'd all been muttering that we never have anything like that around here!
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