Impaled in Jersey

Not So Simple Act of Kindness

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

On April 21, 2020 a fatal crash occurred on state Route 59 in Hurricane, Utah after a vehicle went off a cliff and plunged to the bottom of a 100-foot ravine.

It was reported that officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to SR-59 near the Hurricane Hill trailhead, commonly known as the Hurricane Overlook, on a single-vehicle crash involving a green Geo Tracker. The SUV came to rest roughly 260 feet below the edge of the cliff. When officers reached the wreckage, they found the driver, an elderly man who was in his early 80s, inside the vehicle and deceased.

Great West Towing & Recovery LLC of St. George, Utah, offered to recover the vehicle from the ravine at no cost. Great West operator Cameron Kent informed, “Nobody called us on the recovery. We heard about it on the news then realized it was still there days later. I started calling around to get more info on it and found out only liability insurance and they were not paying. So we offered to recover the car but without any charge to the family.”

For the recovery they used their 1995 Chevy 3500 light-duty Nomar wrecker boom truck with dual winches and a 2019 International 4300 MV with a Chevron rollback to help tie down the wrecker and keep it planted to the ground.

However, the location of the vehicle made for a not so simple recovery that entailed adding extra feet of cable to reach the vehicle from the top where the wrecker was located. They used almost 500-feet of cable on this recovery, two 100-feet cables and a single 200-feet cable along with the dual 50 foot cables on the Nomar boom truck.

Cameron and operator Adam Clarke repelled down the cliff side while Great West owner Lee Clarke was up top controlling the winches from the Nomar wrecker. The two operators were lowered down the side of the cliff and then hiked into the deep ravine where the Tracker was located and then rigged it for recovery.

Cameron explained, “We had to re-rig the winches about four times to prevent the SUV from falling back down into the ravine. Fortunately we always bring extra cable.”

The dead lift (the point when the vehicle is off the ground and winching through the air straight up the cliff wall) was just about 98-feet. Once they got it topside, they loaded it on their Chevron rollback and hauled it to their yard.

The recovery began at daybreak and was completed about four hours later.

Cameron said, “This recovery actually went much smoother than we thought it would considering the location of the vehicle.”

Show Yours @ TIW
Do you have a recovery to share with TIW readers? Send some pics and info to our Field Editor Jim “Buck” Sorrenti at jimchaos69@yahoo.com; your story may even be selected for print in American Towman magazine!

Windmill Tower Recovery

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

Early evening, on June 23rd, 2020, dispatcher Carla Ruiz of Central Iowa Towing & Recovery Inc. received a call from a trucking company that was carrying a super-load, which had overturned off of an exit ramp on Interstate 35 south bound just outside of Decatur City, Iowa.

They were told it was a 2009 Kenworth T800 heavy-haul tractor and its 8-axle trailer hauling a large section of windmill tower weighing approximately 220k-pounds.

Central owner Dustin Tapp informed, “We have done these windmill sections that had overturned in the past, but none were this heavy.”

Dispatch arranged a crew to start towards the accident scene. Operator Jared Vandewall was sent out in their 2014 Kenworth T800 equipped with a Century 1140 40-ton rotator. Operator Mike Lamberson responded in their 2020 Peterbilt 389 twin-steer equipped with a Century 1150 50-ton knee boom rotator. Operator Alex Gustafson responded in their 2015 Peterbilt 387 equipped with a Century 5130 wrecker. Operator Cody Holmes responded in their 2008 Kenworth T800 equipped with a Century 4024. Central’s Incident Response truck was brought out by operator Kevin Murphy. Others who responded were Craig Tapp, Chase Carlson, Billy See, Luke Schnieder, Tyler Mortvedt, and Nate Brommel to assist with traffic control, fuel spill clean up, and rigging.

Dustin stated, “We sent quite a bit of iron and personnel as we were only given very limited information and the scene of the incident was 103 miles from our home base. Its always best to have more personnel and equipment than you need versus waiting for its arrival.”

On their way to the incident the Central crew learned that another company had originally been called, but did not have enough equipment for such a large job.

“We made contact with the wrecker company to see if they had any pictures or details,” said Dustin. “We learned it was on a very narrow ramp with a steep shoulder. After reviewing the pictures we decided to bring in another wrecker company that we work very well with.”

Dustin called on Wes Penny at Mid Iowa Towing in Des Moines, Iowa and he and his son Austin responded with their 2020 Peterbilt 389 equipped with a Century 1150 50-ton rotator.

When the operators arrived on scene they did their walk-around, surveyed the situation and made a recovery plan.

“Local and State law officials were informed of the complexity of the recovery and given a rough time frame we would have the ramp closed,” explained Dustin. “Our traffic control closed off the ramp setting up cones and signs. We informed traffic management and they lit up the digital sign boards to inform travelers on the highway.”

The recovery crew then began positioning trucks for the recovery.

“We rigged our 1140 with Jared at the controls to the front of the tower,” explained Dustin. “We positioned our 1150 twin-steer with Mike at the controls in the center of the tower. At the rear of the tower was Mid Iowa’s 1150 with Wes and Austin at the controls. In the front we used our 5130 on the front jeep section ran by Alex and rear of the tractor with our 4024 ran by Cody on the front of the tractor.” The crew first removed the fuel from the tanks to avoid the possibility of any more contaminants leaking.

Once everything was positioned and a safe working environment was established the operators and ground personnel put on their Sonetics wireless headsets and began rigging. The rotators were rigged using 15-ton snatch blocks, 5/8-inch G100 chain, 1 ½-inch screw pin shackles and 12-inch x 26-foot double ply straps. The front trucks were rigged using 12-ton snatch blocks and 5/8-inch rim slings.

Dustin said, “We used a low line off of the 4024 to spike the front of the tractor down. Low lines were used on the 5130 to pull the rear tandems and jeep down. Both main lines off of the 1140 were doubled and rigged to lift the front of the tube while the drag winch was giving down pressure at the same time. Both high lines were used off our 1150 hooked to straps supporting and lifting the center of the tube. Mid Iowa’s 1150 used both main lines to create lift of the rear and its drag to spike the jeep.”

Once the unit was back on the ground, the rotators were used to support the tube while they pulled the complete unit out of the ditch and onto the road. Once on the road the drum was secured to the trailer. The transport company brought in a new road tractor.

“We removed the damaged tractor while still supporting the load and put the new one under it,” said Dustin. “Our crew reset three trailer tires. The damaged tractor was transported back to our lot for storage.”

With the new tractor successfully hooked to the unit it was transported to the nearest safe haven which was roughly 1-mile away. Once there Central used their two rotators to lift one end of the tower at a time to re-center it into the trailer. The company waited for day-break to finish the transportation of the tower.

Dustin informed, “The driver was OK as the incident was at a low speed. We never found a BOL (bill of laden) with the actual weights on it or a scale ticket. We were informed by a law enforcement official that their rolling scale had a 246k-pound load cross it in the right time frame.”

From start to finish the job took just over 8 hours 40 minutes including the drive time.

Dustin stated, “Two competing companies coming together was a very large key to the success of this recovery. We were all one team that day, no egos involved. Just one common goal and the drive to make it happen.”
…………………………………….

Dustin Tapp is the owner/manager/CEO of Central Iowa Towing & Recovery Inc. based in Ames, Iowa. Central Iowa Towing & Recovery is a full service, licensed towing company that serves Story County, Iowa and surrounding areas with a diversified fleet and knowledgeable staff equipped to handle any job, big or small.

Show Yours @ TIW
Do you have a recovery to share with TIW readers? Send some pics and info to our Field Editor Jim “Buck” Sorrenti at jimchaos69@yahoo.com; your story may even be selected for print in American Towman magazine!

Eagle Hooking on I-80

by Jim “Buck” Sorrenti

On September 26th, 2020, Norberg’s Towing of Green River, Wy., was called to recover a rear-ended truck from I-80, about 10 miles outside of town.

Norberg’s custom fleet includes some unique, purpose built, one-of-a-kind, no nonsense rigs. All are heavy-duty workhorses.

For this job, Shawn Norberg headed out in the Eagle, his 1998 Freightliner FL112 with a Don Hines bed and a Zacklift. Double framed and powered by a C12 engine mated to an 8LL trans, this hefty unit has a 46,000-pound rear end with full lockers on a walking beam suspension and an 18,000-pound steer axle.

Shawn explained, “The driver had pulled to the side of the road to have his tire fixed when another semi came up and rear-ended him, crushing the back-end of the trailer and going into the ditch down the road.”

Sunlite Service, another area company, was called by the Wyoming Highway Patrol to recover that semi while Norberg’s handled the rear-ended truck.

Shawn informed, “The trailer was loaded with metal crates that held the sub-frames of Tesla electric cars. Each weighing 2,500-pounds. The trailer doors were strapped shut to secure the load for transport.”

Shawn backed his wrecker to the rear of the trailer, pulled a line from the Eagle and wrapped it around the damaged trailer’s rear axle that had been pushed forward after being rear-ended and winched the axle back in place. Once the axle was in place and secured, the driver followed Shawn to his yard.

“The customer sent another trailer to our yard and I used my forklift to offload the casualty onto that trailer,” said Shawn. “Tried moving a stack of five, but was too much. It was slow going. Could have used a bigger forklift. I think it will be a good investment.”

------

Brothers Dale Sheridan Norberg, Jr. and Shawn Michael Norberg manage and operate Norberg's Towing Service in Green River, Wy., the family business their father Dale Sheridan Sr. and mother Elaine established in 1967. The brothers grew up in the business and from their mother, brothers, uncles, sons, and cousins, this is a family fully involved in the business from the oldest to the youngest, including Shawn’s little daughter, Billie. The Norberg family has handled every kind of situation from winch-outs to extreme recoveries in the rough Wyoming terrain.


Show Yours @ TIW
Do you have a recovery to share with TIW readers? Send some pics and info to our Field Editor Jim “Buck” Sorrenti at jimchaos69@yahoo.com; your story may even be selected for print in American Towman magazine!