Two Oxnard firefighters and a Riverside man barely escaped serious injury or death early this morning when a Metrolink train struck a passenger vehicle at the intersection of 5th Street and Rice Avenue in the city of Oxnard.
The initial call came into Oxnard dispatch at 5:34 am – the callers reported a two vehicle traffic collision at that location. Oxnard firefighters and police responded – arriving on scene at 5:40. Realizing one of the involved vehicles was inoperable on the train track, firefighters called dispatch to inform Union Pacific of the collision and to report that a vehicle was disabled on the track.
As that call to Union Pacific was underway the warning arm of the Union Pacific stanchion came down – at that point officers and firefighters could see the train coming toward them. The Metrolink, traveling at approximately 60 mph, was unable to stop in time and struck the vehicle on the track.
Prior to the vehicle being struck by the train two firefighters had been assisting the driver, who was still in the vehicle as it sat on the track. The firefighters were concerned about possible neck or back injuries to the man in the vehicle and were administering aid to him. As aid was being given the firefighters and police officers realized the train was coming. At this point the eastbound train was approximately 200 yards from hitting the vehicle. Oxnard firefighter Graham Dunbar, age 30 with just 13 months with OFD, was inside the vehicle with the injured driver. A second Oxnard firefighter – Guillermo Garay, age 29 also was adjacent to the vehicle asisting the passenger when the train was struck.
Seeing the train quickly approaching these two firefighters had only a few seconds to make the decision whether to flee the vehicle themselves or risk greater injury or death and pull the injured driver from the car. The two firefighters made the decision to pull the injured man from the vehicle before impact occured. As they pulled the man from the car – Firefighter Dunbar was able to put his body over the man in an effort to protect him from the flying debris. They were approximately five feet from the train as it hit the car stuck on the tracks.
As impact occured every emergency responder on scene dove for cover. In talking to several of the firefighters and police officers afterwards they stated that at the moment of impact they were unaware of whether or not the firefighters and the injured man had been able to get out of the way of the train. Obviously they were greatly relieved to see that everyone survived with no injuries, although the officers and firefighters involved were very shaken by this incident.
The injured driver, identified as Miguel Reyes, age 32 of Riverside, was transported to St. Johns for treatment of injuries sustained in the initial vehicle collision – his injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
If anyone would like to interview either of these two firefighters – please contact Deborah or David and interviews will be arranged.
The scene was cleared by 8:00 am and traffic is moving normally through the area at this time.
For further information please contact:
- Deborah O’Malia @ 340-7716
- David Keith @ 385-7631