Busy morning: Firefighters respond to wreck, locomotive fire

Greenwich-area firefighters went from the scene of a Ripley Township car wreck to a minor electrical fire in a locomotive Tuesday morning.

At 5:44 a.m., the Huron County Sheriff's Office received an anonymous call about a 2004 Chevrolet Impala on an embankment with an injured driver inside the car. The accident happened at the intersection of Townline Road 111 and Plymouth East Road near Plymouth.

Sgt. Steve Shupp, North Central EMS and the Tri-Community Joint Fire District responded to the scene. By the time Shupp arrived, firefighters were tending to the Impala at the bottom of a steep hill.

Paramedics transported the driver, Sonja Knapp, 41, of 743 Silliman Road, Plymouth, to Willard Mercy Hospital, where Shupp interviewed her and checked on her condition.

"I don't know the extent of her injuries," fire Chief David Seidel said.

Sheriff's Capt. Ted Patrick provided information about the crash, which remains under investigation.

"She was cresting a hill (with) a vehicle coming the other way," Patrick said. "She said she overcorrected, went off the side of the road and hit a utility pole."

Wilcox Garage towed the Impala from the scene with severe damage to the passenger side and rear.

From that crash site, 12 to 15 Tri-Community firefighters were dispatched to South Omega Road and the U.S 250 underpass near Greenwich. A CSX Railroad employee reported a locomotive was on fire there just after 7 a.m.

"It was some wiring," Seidel said. "It was out when we got there. ... It was nothing really serious."

The locomotive was hauling about 160 cars.

"I think he said he was going to Cleveland," Seidel said.