Incident Name:
Date: 07/02/2007, 1640 hrs
Personnel: Dennise Marie Leslie
Age: 40
Agency/Organization: Coal City Community Volunteer FD, IN
Position: Volunteer
Summary: Firefighter Leslie was responding to the fire station in her personal vehicle, a 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck, after her fire department was dispatched to a wildland fire.
As Firefighter Leslie crested a hill, she saw another vehicle waiting to make a left-hand turn in front of her. She moved her vehicle from the center of the road into her lane, but oversteered. The right wheels of her vehicle left the paved roadway. Firefighter Leslie steered to the left in an attempt to bring her vehicle back onto the road. The pickup began to spin, traveled across the roadway, and collided with an earthen embankment. This caused the vehicle to go airborne and begin to roll over. The cab of the truck collided with a large tree, causing extensive damage to the passenger compartment. When EMS responders arrived on the scene, Firefighter Leslie was determined to have died in the crash. The cause of death was listed as head trauma. The pickup’s airbag had deployed; Firefighter Leslie was not wearing a seatbelt.
Coal City Volunteer Fire Department, IN 47427
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- SAFENET on the Importance of Wearing Seat belts: from 2007
- USFA Memorial Database: Dennise Marie Leslie
Wildlandfire.com Links:
- Indiana firefighter dies in crash on way to callJuly 2, 2007 | Online Article
COAL CITY, Ind. — A volunteer firefighter died in a car crash Monday while on her way to the department’s station for a fire call, the state fire marshal said. The firefighter was identified as Dennise M. Leslie, 37, of Freedom. She was going to get an engine from the Coal City Fire Department to respond to a brush fire when she was killed in a single-car accident about 5 p.m., Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said.
Leslie lost control of her pickup truck as she swerved to avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle, the Owen County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Her truck rolled and struck a tree.
The crash occurred on a rural road about 30 miles west of Bloomington. It was later reported Leslie was not wearing a seat belt.
- Obituary submitted by her husband
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