Three-Car Wreck on I-10 Injures 8: Jaws Needed to Rescue One Person

By Robin Fitzgerald, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Jul. 28–PASS CHRISTIAN — Eight people were injured in a multiple-vehicle crash including a head-on collision Friday on Interstate 10 west, authorities said.

Volunteer firefighters from the West Harrison County Fire Station used the Jaws of Life to remove the most critically injured person, said George Mixon, coordinator of Harrison County Fire Services.

Authorities said the crash happened around 2:30 p.m. when one vehicle crossed the grassy median and collided with another vehicle at mile-marker 22, between the DeLisle and Menge Avenue exits. A third vehicle was involved.

The crash was the third multiple-vehicle wreck with injuries in Harrison County in a week, including a fatal head-on collision Tuesday on Mississippi 67 at Mississippi 605 and a crash July 20 that injured 11 people on I-10 near the Long Beach exit.

The crash and emergency response snarled traffic for about 45 minutes.

Mixon said Harrison County’s volunteer firefighters probably use the Jaws of Life more often than city firefighters because of the number of major traffic accidents on I-10 and state highways that cross the unincorporated areas.

“We don’t count anymore,” Mixon said, “but it’s safe to save we use the jaws at least three times a week.”

Traffic accidents have claimed 18 lives in Harrison County since January, in comparison to five traffic deaths reported countywide in 2006.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

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