On Thursday, November 9, 2023, real life superheroes went into action to prevent a tragic outcome. Dan Walsh, Trevor Copeland, and Jacob Dietz were working at the East Lansing Wastewater Treatment Plant on the irrigation decks. They had just finished lunch and returned to work around 12:45pm when they heard a “pop” coming from about 250 yards away on Highway 496. They looked up and saw an Amazon van had slammed into the back of a state truck. As smoke started coming out of the front of the van, Dan, Trevor, and Jacob took immediate action, grabbing nearby fire extinguishers and calling upon fellow workers on site to quickly find more.
When they reached the Amazon van, they realized the female driver was trapped inside. They fought the heavy smoke and fire with 20 fire extinguishers for about 15 minutes before the fire truck arrived to thoroughly extinguish the fire. One of them gave the driver his sweatshirt to cover her face from the thick fire extinguisher fumes and smoke.
Firefighters used the jaws of life, working for 20 minutes to free the trapped driver. She would have never survived the fire and smoke for that long and is alive today because of the immediate response from these three young men who did not hesitate to jump into action without giving a second thought to their own safety. We applaud them for this selfless act to help another human being in need. True Superior Electric superheroes!
Left to right
Dan Walsh, Trevor Copeland, & Jacob Dietz
