On September 26, 2019 Pro-Tow received an emergency dispatch from the Washington State Police. An overturned camper trailer was broken apart and blocking all lanes on EB SR18 near Federal Way, WA. They required heavy-duty towing and accident recovery immediately.
Major Incident Tow Response Activation
We weren’t the first towing service on the scene. Prior to getting the call, another towing company tried to recover the trailer but were unsuccessful when the trailer started to break apart. The incident was escalated to require Major Incident Tow Response Activation (MIT) by the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Washington State Police. MIT Tows requirean elevated response with increased personnel and heavy-duty towing equipment to clear the scene quickly and safely. We had to reopen all lanes of traffic as soon as possible.
In response to the MIT, we responded with a heavy-duty crane-style wrecker, heavy-duty recovery wrecker, major incident response support vehicle, flatbed tow truck, flatbed tow truck with a transporting dump trailer, compact track loader and specialty grapple attachments. We were well equipped to get this accident recovery accomplished!
Accident Recovery Step By Step
Step 1: Upon arrival to the scene of the incident, report to Incident Command for debriefing and instructions.
Step 2: Perform a scene evaluation and assemble the equipment to the appropriate areas.
Step 3: Create and execute a safe accident recovery plan that includes rigging calculations. We needed to lift this trailer with the least amount of damage to the trailer and debris left on the road.
Step 4: Get to work! In this case, we usedhigh-capacitylifting air bags to partially lift the trailer so we could install soft recovery straps around it in a basket configuration. A four-point rigging connection allows the trailer to be lifted evenly, minimizing destruction. We were able to lift and load the trailer onto our flatbed truck.
Step 5: Clear the lanes and transport the trailer to our secured storage year for temporary storage. Afterwards, we were able to get the trailer back on its wheels so it could be transported to its final destination.
Another day on the job and another heavy-duty towing and accident recovery job done well!
