MOULTON, Ala. -- A Speake volunteer firefighter went to the hospital after being hit by a vehicle Tuesday while working a wreck scene at Alabama 157 and Alabama 36.
The firefighter, Kenny Gillespie, 50, was in the emergency room at Decatur General Hospital on Tuesday night.
"He's in a lot of pain right now," said his wife, Shelia. "They've done
X-rays, and they think his ribs are broken, and he's got a place on his leg where I guess he skidded."
The wreck occurred at about 2 p.m. and involved a car and an 18-wheeler.
Shelia Gillespie said her husband was slowing traffic when a man in a blue Jeep approached at an excessive rate of speed.
When Kenny Gillespie motioned for him to slow down, he stopped, rolled the window down and used profanity before speeding away, Shelia Gillespie said.
She said her husband had his hand on the vehicle door when the man drove off, causing her husband to fall.
Firefighter Kenny Rutherford said he was with a wreck victim when Gillespie was injured and wasn't sure how Gillespie was injured.
He said he heard yelling and saw Gillespie flip in the air and hit the pavement.
The driver of the Jeep was stopped by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Department at Cowboys off Alabama 157 in Moulton.
It wasn't clear Tuesday if he would face criminal charges.
"We have looked into it, and we're still not through with the investigation," Sheriff Gene Mitchell said. "We've interviewed the driver, and we'll get it together and get with the (district attorney) and see what charges, if any, should be filed."
The name of the driver of the Jeep wasn't available Tuesday.
Shelia Rutherford said her husband has been a volunteer firefighter for about 20 years.
Rutherford said a male who suffered a cut on his head was the only other person injured in the wreck Gillespie was working.
The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
