By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP
Advance Managing Editor
A woman whose car had rolled over on Highway 31 was trapped inside for almost 30 minutes while officials with the Atmore Fire Department were forced to rip the vehicle's cab open to free her in the first of two traffic accidents Monday.
The first accident was reported at 10:20 a.m. from Highway 31 south and involved one vehicle that had swerved off the road and rolled over onto its side.
Betty Porz, a resident of Century, was driving a 1994 Oldsmobile and was injured as a result of the accident, but local authorities on the scene said the injuries were not serious.
According to law enforcement officers on the scene, Porz apparently swerved off the road when another driver turned onto Highway 31. Her car went up a small embankment that caused it to roll over. The other vehicle was not involved in the accident.
With Porz trapped inside the vehicle, the Atmore Fire Department and the "jaws of life" was called to the scene to help free the victim from the vehicle. They worked for over 20 minutes and after cutting a back portion of the cab, they were able to bend it back and get Porz out of the vehicle.
She was transported to the hospital by an ambulance already on the scene.
Atmore Fire Chief Gerry McGhee said the rescue went well because of the constant communication between the rescue team and the victim.
In a second accident that occurred less than two hours later, a vehicle collided with logging truck at the intersection of Highway 21 and County Road 14, near Interstate 65.
A 1988 Peterbilt logging vehicle, driven by Michael Hall of Creola, Ala., was pulling onto Highway 21 when a 1986 Chevrolet driven by Joseph Ferrell in the northbound lane ran into the cab of the truck.
Neither driver was reported injured as a result of the accident.
The Atmore Fire Department was once again called to the scene as a precautionary measure.
Later that afternoon, at 2:18 p.m., the AFD received another call – this one for a structural fire at 45 Martin Luther King Ave.
A pot that had been left on the stove caught fire and caused some damage to a residence. But, no one was injured as a result of the fire.