By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
A Rockwell Rural firefighter was seriously injured when his vehicle overturned today as he was heading to a vehicle collision.
Josh Jacobs, 30, was on his way to an incident about 2 miles away on Fisher Road when the tire tread of his 1997 Ford Explorer came apart and he lost control of the vehicle on Pop Basinger Road.
Jacobs, a veteran firefighter, ran off the road, tried to maintain control of the vehicle, but overturned. He was thrown from the vehicle and came to rest several feet away in a yard at 7660 Pop Basinger Road, not far from Bella Vista Road. The collision occurred sometime around 3 p.m.
N.C. Trooper A.J. Carpenter, who investigated the collision, called it a freak accident.
Carpenter said there were obvious skid marks where Jacobs tried to control the vehicle as the tread began to separate from the tire.
Kevin Holshouser, assistant fire chief with Rockwell Rural, said Jacobs was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center and then flown to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.
Rockwell Rural and Rockwell City Fire departments responded. Rowan Rescue Squad, Rowan EMS and the N.C. Highway Patrol were also at the scene.
See more in Thursday’s Post.