I-59 MVA with Rollover

Birmingham Fire & Rescue

I was on I-59 this morning passing the Tallapoosa exit when all of the sudden I saw a cloud of dust and an SUV shoot across the Interstate in front of me and slam into the center divide. As if that wasn't enough, then I see a car flip into the air and start rolling. By the time it was over, she had rolled three times.

I can safely say that I've been on hundreds of wrecks in my career but to see a car fly through the air and start rolling was something that I had to convince myself I was actually seeing.

The lady I was helping was, for the most part, fine. Of course, she was hurting but didn't have any obvious fractures, major bleeds or decreased level of consciousness. She kept thanking God for sparing her... and rightfully so! I must say, I was doing the same.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue and the Birmingham Police Department arrived on the scene in what seemed to be less than a minute. I'm sure it was a little bit longer than that but I really was impressed with their response time... especially since they had to get through a fast growing wall of dead-stopped traffic because the Interstate, at the time of the incident, was impassable.

On scene were 3 rescue units (I think 8, 1 and 22), EMS 4, Engine 8, and a Battalion Chief. The truck company was canceled.


This was as I was pulling over, seconds after it happened. You can still see the dust settling in front of the SUV...










Rescue 8 treating the lady who was in the car that rolled...




Birmingham Police and A.S.A.P. keeping traffic off of the medics...