A 36-year-old Cleburne man caught under the wheels of an opened-top hopper car Sunday morning in the rail yard at Gunderson Southwest called 9-1-1 for help immediately after the incident.
Truman Lee Duncan told 9-1-1 operators he “had been cut in half” by the wheels on the car.
Cleburne Police Chief Terry Powell said after Duncan’s call the 9-1-1 center received other calls concerning the incident.
Duncan is also reported to have called his wife after calling 9-1-1. That information could not be confirmed.
Duncan was reported to be in critical condition at Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital Monday morning. The hospital declined to release any information on the extent of his injuries, citing medical privacy laws.
Police and fire department paramedics arrived at Gunderson shortly after 8 a.m. and met with a security guard, who was unaware of the incident. Firefighters and police did not know where Duncan was trapped and began searching for him with the security guard.
When Duncan was found the fire department and CareFlite Ground Services paramedics began treating him for massive leg injuries. One leg was reported to be caught between a steel wheel and brake and the other leg was caught on some wheel and axle parts.
Firefighters and a rail yard worker moved several rail cars to another track to make it easier to get equipment to the scene and treat Duncan.
A heavy-duty forklift was brought to the scene but not used, and wooden blocks were placed to secure the wheels on the various rail cars. Rescuers left the cars connected, fearing the car that pinned Duncan might move if separated from the others.
The rail yard worker was asked to set the brake on the car Duncan was pinned under, but the wheel’s brake shoe began closing on his leg so they stopped that procedure.
Firefighters placed wooden blocks under the front axle of the car and a heavy-duty airbag on the wooden support system. The airbag was inflated, raising the car several inches, and the car was again shored up with wooden blocks.
Once the car was raised and secured rescuers disentangled Duncan from the wheel and flew him to Fort Worth on a CareFlite helicopter.
Assistant Fire Chief Keith Scarbrough said a Harris Methodist surgical team had been organized and were on a helicopter heading to Cleburne to help free Duncan if necessary. But once local rescuers freed the man the surgical team was diverted back to Fort Worth.
A spokesman for Mike Payne, manager of Gunderson Southwest in Cleburne, said that information concerning the incident would be released by The Greenbrier Companies of Lake Oswego, Ore., sometime Monday afternoon. Calls made to the firm’s public relations and human resources offices were not returned.
The Greenbrier Companies is an international supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry. Gunderson Southwest is a repair service, refurbishing and coordinating repair or managed-maintenance programs for thousands of railcars at facilities in Oregon, Washington, Texas, Colorado and Kansas. Work includes covered hoppers, open-top hoppers, boxcars, gondolas, double-stack cars and all types of flatcars.
Rob Fraser can be reached at 817-645-2441, ext. 2336, or rfraser@trcle.com.
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