Quick facts about the Tuesday morning accident on Torrence

as of 10:15am

by Melanie Jongsma

LANSING, Ill. (September 11, 2018) – Police and fire are still working at the site of this morning’s accident, but these facts are available now:

• Before 5:00am, a semi driver fell asleep and crashed into the apartment building at 18423 Torrence Avenue.
• This is a four-unit apartment building. The crash most significantly affected one of the lower level apartments, where a family of four lives.
• One family member was injured and taken to the hospital. A second family member had already left for the day and was not in the apartment. The two other family members were shaken but not injured.
• The driver was extricated around 8:00am and taken to the hospital. He was conscious at the time.
• Torrence was shut down between Ridge Road and 186th Street. The towing equipment needed to remove the truck from the building uses thick metal cables under high pressure, so keeping people at a safe distance was a priority.
• Fire departments from neighboring municipalities came to assist, mainly because of the type of work involved with extrication, particularly when a building is unstable. Having people on hand allows the workers to be relieved quickly and frequently.
• A state organization called MABAS, which is a special emergency support team, arrived on the scene with refreshments for the direct responders.
• Ken Reynolds, Village Communications Director, requested some refreshments from MABAS for the affected family members as well.
• After all occupants of the four-unit building were evacuated, extricating the vehicle was done very slowly and cautiously, in order to minimize the impact on the remainder of the building:
  

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The Village does use their CodeRED service to provide updates about this kind of event:

• About CodeRED (including how to sign up)