BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Traffic accidents dotted Tristate roads Thursday backing up traffic for hours in Northern Kentucky and nearly trapping a Hamilton man whose car caught fire after crashing in Ross Township.
Butler County sheriff's deputies-turned-firefighters may have helped save the life of Patrick Sergent, 32, of 1282 Joan Drive, said Capt. G. Michael Grimes.
Mr. Sergent crashed into a guard rail and a tree on Ross-Hanover Road, just past the Hanover Township line.
He was trapped in the car when deputies arrived just after 2:30 a.m. -- and the car burst into flames, Capt. Grimes said.
The deputies used fire extinguishers to put out the fire, and Millville and Ross Township firefighters later freed the victim from the wreckage.
Mr. Sergent was listed in critical condition at University Hospital.
"This might be a situation where we at least saved this guy temporarily because of the way we're equipping our cruisers nowadays," Capt. Grimes said.
Deputies formerly carried 2-pound fire extinguishers, but in the past couple of years have switched to larger, 5-to-10-pound models with greater capacity. Deputies use those extinguishers on car fires an average of once a week, Capt. Grimes said.
In Northern Kentucky, a car ran into a parked tractor-trailer rig in the westbound lanes of Interstate 275 early Thursday, closing the highway's westbound lanes for more than an hour, and choking traffic throughout most of the morning rush hour.
The wreck took place about 5:15 a.m. near the entrance ramp to Taylor Mill Road, Covington police said.
The driver of the car, Roger Pelfrey, 28, of Austin, Texas, was flown by Air Care helicopter to University Hospital. He was listed in fair condition later Thursday.
The driver of the truck was not injured. The truck was parked because it had a flat tire.
The accident is still under investigation, Lt. Danny Miles said, but initial work indicates that Mr. Pelfrey was driving fast.
Jane Prendergast contributed to this report.
