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The remains of the truck rest after the five-fatality crash. The rig slammed into the ambulance, which was on an emergency run.
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Towns strive to cope with grief of crash

Towns strive to cope with grief of crash

ANTWERP, Ohio Tom Strable saw the whole thing from the front door of his rural Paulding County home the flaming ambulance skidding into his yard after being struck broadside by a tractor-trailer.

There was a massive fire, he said.

Mr. Strable called 911 and then went to the aid of the truck driver and the people in the ambulance.

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They were already thrown out and really close to [the fire], so I tried to pull them away so they wouldn t get burned, he said of the people in the ambulance.

I don t think any of them were alive, except for one guy.

After that, it burned harder and harder and it seemed like a lot of small explosions, he said. There wasn t much left of the ambulance in the end.

Later, his worst suspicions were confirmed.

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Five people three volunteer emergency medical service workers, all from Antwerp, and a married couple from Hicksville, Ohio, hurt in an earlier accident on U.S. 24 were dead.

Another EMS worker and the truck driver were hurt.

Killed were EMS workers Sammy Smith, 64, who was driving the ambulance; Heidi McDougall, 31, and Kelly Rager, 25, who was on one of her first EMS runs, and the Hicksville couple, Robert Wells, 64, and Armelda Wells, 60.

The surviving EMS worker, Matt McDougall, 31, a Hicksville police officer married to Heidi McDougall, was in fair condition last night in Parkview Memorial Hospital, Fort Wayne, Ind.

At the scene of the ambulance-truck collision, Mr. McDougall went to lie down next to his wife, Mr. Strable recalled.

He wasn t in good shape and, I am no doctor, but she wasn t breathing, Mr. Strable said.

Family members at Mr. McDougall s hospital bedside declined to comment yesterday.

The truck driver, Gerald Chapman Jr., 54, of Bryant, Ind., was treated at Paulding County Hospital in Paulding, Ohio.

It was an unimaginable series of events Friday that resulted in the grief now being experienced in Antwerp and Hicksville.

An accident on U.S. 24 about 11 a.m. may have contributed to another on the same highway in about the same spot seven hours later that led to the horrific third about 7 p.m. at Paulding County Roads 176 and 87 in Crane Township between Paulding and Cecil, Ohio, about 65 miles southwest of Toledo.

Mr. Strable said the ambulance, its siren wailing, ran the stop sign at Road 176 as it traveled south on Road 87.

It looked like they had slowed down a little at the stop sign, Mr. Strable said yesterday as environmental crews removed the diesel-contaminated, charred remains of his lawn.

Moments later, the eastbound truck slammed broadside into the ambulance, he said.

Earlier Friday, a roll-over crash involving a tractor-trailer closed U.S. 24 between U.S. 127 and the village of Antwerp for a couple of hours.

The highway was closed until about 1 p.m. while hanging beef was removed from the truck and put into another vehicle and the truck was uprighted.

There were no serious injuries, authorities said.

Because the truck remained at the site, heavy traffic on the highway was slowed.

About 6 p.m., the Paulding County Sheriff s Office received a call about a crash on U.S. 24 near County Road 73 in Crane Township a car had been rear-ended by another vehicle.

A pickup driven by William Smith, 49, of Antwerp, hit the car driven by Timothy Wells, 15, in which his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Wells, and David Bremett, another of the Wellses grandchildren, were passengers.

Both vehicles were eastbound on U.S. 24, and the Wellses car was stopped waiting to turn north onto County Road 73 when it was struck in the rear by Mr. Smith s vehicle, troopers at the Ohio Highway Patrol s Van Wert post said.

The grandsons were transported by Paulding EMS to Paulding County Hospital, where they were treated.

Mr. and Mrs. Wells, who suffered whiplash-type injuries to the back and neck, got into the Antwerp EMS ambulance headed for the same hospital.

The loss hit hard in the village of Antwerp, population just under 1,700.

U.S. flags flew at half-staff throughout the town.

The sign outside the local A&W Drive In where a daughter and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wells both work read God Bless Squad 41.

In a community this size, it s just heartbreaking it s crushing for our community, said owner Joe Barker. Most people will know someone involved or at least affected by this tragedy.

Word of the crash spread quickly in both towns.

Children played outside the Wellses home while family members inside discussed the accident and funeral arrangements.

An attorney for the family said members did not want to talk about the tragedy.

In Antwerp, friends and family gathered Friday night at the firehouse.

When I was at the firehouse, it was 150 lost souls looking for answers and no one talking. It was very solemn, Mr. Barker said.

Scott Marsee, pastor of Community Church of the Nazarenne, was called to offer grief counseling.

Everyone had a time of talking and being together, Mr. Marsee said.

Outside the firehouse yesterday, mourners started a memorial to honor the rescue workers.

All three of them were very good, very dedicated people, said Ray Friend, the village fire chief. At this point, I would say the town is just in shock.

Mr. Smith, a longtime Antwerp resident who retired from Uniroyal Goodrich, was well-known as an EMS, firefighter, and operator of a local shop on Main Street across from the post office known as the Bear s Den, where mostly retirees play cards.

Chief Friend said Mr. Smith rarely missed an ambulance or fire run and only if he had to take his wife for her dialysis.

Ann Smith sat quietly yesterday and recalled her husband s constant commitment to this small town s volunteer fire department, headquartered just one block from their home of many years.

Sammy was a hard-working man and he would do anything for anybody, Mrs. Smith said. He was a good father, a good husband, and a good man.

The mayor of the small village fought back tears while discussing the tragedy that she said will affect the close-knit community for many years.

I have known all these people since I moved here in 1963, so it s very difficult for all of us, Mayor Margaret Womack said.

Her voice broke and tears welled in her eyes when asked about Mr. Smith, an old friend and high school classmate.

Mayor Womack said Ms. Rager, the youngest of the victims, was a 2000 graduate of Antwerp Local High School and had just started as an EMS worker.

The mayor said Mrs. McDougall leaves behind five children.

Chief Friend said the town would like to have a memorial service for all three rescue workers.

Services for Mr. Smith, Mrs. McDougall, and Ms. Rager will be at the Dooley Funeral Home in Antwerp, and services for Mr. and Mrs. Wells will be at the Smith & Brown Funeral Home in Hicksville.

Arrangements for all five are pending.

Shawn Dooley, funeral director of the Dooley Funeral Home, knew all three of the Antwerp EMS members.

They were all just fantastic people. None of them would ever give up the chance to get in the EMS and help out, and they died doing it, he said last night.

Mr. Smith was an extremely experienced EMS driver and cautious person, Mr. Dooley said.

He was always right there and ready to drive.

Trooper Josh Weiss said the law allows emergency vehicles to go through stop signs or traffic lights but they must proceed with due regard.

Mrs. McDougall was a paramedic and Ms. Rager was a hairstylist, Mr. Dooley said.

I think she has been doing this for under two years, not very long at all, he said.

A memorial fund for Mr. Smith and his family has been established at the Antwerp Exchange Bank.

Staff writer Janet Romaker contributed to this report.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:imessina@theblade.comor 419-724-6171.

First Published July 22, 2007, 2:20 p.m.

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The remains of the truck rest after the five-fatality crash. The rig slammed into the ambulance, which was on an emergency run.
Tom Strable inspects the rear window of his car that was smashed when the flaming ambulance careened into his yard.
Ann Smith, recalls the dedication her husband, SammySmith, above, showed to Antwerp and to its fire department.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
Police Officer Matt McDougall was in fair condition last night. His wife, Heidi McDougall, was killed in the crash.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
A sign outside a drive-in echoes the prayers of many about the EMS workers who were killed.
Fire Chief Ray Friend entersthe Antwerp fire station asballoons flutter nearby.  (The Blade/Dave Zapotosky)  Buy Image
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