WEFR International Engine Destroyed In Accident

December 3, 1980, at 3:20 p.m. a rescue assignment was dispatched for Route 696 and I-81 overpass bridge Southampton Franklin for a fire engine overturned. The West End Fire and Rescue Company’s 1973 International/Bruco engine (15-2) was involved in an accident destroying the unit. The engine went out of control and left the road before flipping onto its roof on the bridge, Engine Sergeant Charles Westcott was confined to the cab and was extricated by firefighters. Westcott along with driver Ronald Elliott and firefighter Randy O’Donnell were all treated and released from Chambersburg Hospital. My father and I were the first on the scene and I remember well looking at a pair of bunker pants laying out on the bridge like half of someone was still in them. It was a great relief when we looked in side. The Vigilant Hose and West End Fire and Rescue companies answered the alarm.