Published Sept. 15, 1992 in the Louisville Courier-Journal

4 die when ambulance, truck collide

OIL SPRINGS — An ambulance and a coal truck crashed in Eastern Kentucky yesterday and burst into flames, killing at least four people, officials said.

The truck ended up on top of the ambulance, according to a Johnson County sheriff's dispatcher. Three of the bodies were found inside the ambulance. The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. on U.S. 460 between Paintsville and Salyersville near Oil Springs.

State Trooper Scott Hazlett said the ambulance, which was traveling westbound, belonged to G&B Ambulance Service of Salyersville. The loaded coal truck was eastbound, he said. No other details of the crash were available.

A woman answering the phone at the ambulance service said the unit was returning with a patient from the Paul B. Hall Medical Center in Paintsville. "They were coming back," said the woman, who would not give her name. "They were in no rush."

John Blanton, who lives in a trailer near the scene of the wreck, said he "heard a big, thunderous crash" and came out onto his porch. He said at first all he could see was a big cloud of dust.

"It felt so hot, I couldn't get anywhere near it," he said. "There was nothing nobody could do."

KENTUCKY EMS MEMORIAL

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