Driver crashes into electrical box, exits vehicle, and is then hit by fire chief in pickup truck
A woman who had gone off the road and knocked down a power line was then struck by a local fire chief as he was arriving at the scene of the crash.
The back-to-back incidents happened Saturday morning, on Highway 7 in Silver Lake, Minnesota, according to two separate State Patrol incident reports.
The initial wreck happened around 4:50 a.m. as Rhiannon A. Phillippi, a 28-year-old from Hutchinson, was traveling westbound on the highway in a Chevy Equinox. Around mile post 150, she left the roadway and went into the right ditch.
Phillippi's car slammed into an electrical control box and knocked down a power line, the first incident report says. It notes she suffered life-threatening injuries.
Then came the second collision.
Shortly after the crash, an emergency first responder identified as Dale H. Kosek — listed as a fire chief for the City of Silver Lake — came to the site of the wreck. The 62-year-old was behind the wheel of a pickup truck and as it was arriving, he "struck a pedestrian at the scene," according to the State Patrol's report.
Phillippi is listed as the struck pedestrian.
Sgt. Tory Christianson of the State Patrol told Bring Me The News that Phillippi was lying down on a driveway near the site of the first crash when Kosek struck her. Christianson noted it was still dark at the time.
The State Patrol's report, however, says she "had sustained injuries prior to" being hit by the fire chief.
Phillippi suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to North Memorial Hospital. She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the initial wreck, and the State Patrol says alcohol doesn't appear to be involved in either of the two crashes.
Note: The details provided in this story are based on the police’s latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
