Firefighters Extricate Driver From Underneath Car in I-95 Crash [Update]

The Trumbull motorist who became stuck under his car after crashing into the back of a tractor trailer parked at a rest area on Interstate 95 in Fairfield was listed in stable condition Friday afternoon in St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport.

Assistant Fire Chief Douglas Chavenello, the incident commander, said the motorist, identified by State Police as Michael Sarafin, 36, of Columbine Drive, struck the back of a tractor trailer parked at a rest area between exits 22 and 21 on the highway's northbound side and was likely ejected from the side of the car. "When he hit the truck, somehow it tore the side of the car open...He came out of the car and the car ended up on top of him," Chavenello said.

The tractor trailer was parked partially within the off-ramp to the I-95 northbound Fairfield rest area, and the driver, identified by State Police as Stevan M. Abernathy, 53, of Buena Vista, Va., was in the sleeping berth of the tractor trailer at the time of the crash. Abernathy wasn't injured, according to the State Police report.

Firefighters extricated Sarafin from underneath his 1996 Toyota Corolla by raising the car with airbags and hydraulic tools and inserting cribbing under the raised car so it wouldn't slip and fall back on top of him, Chavenello said. The extrication took about a half-hour, and Sarafin was taken by AMR Ambulance Co. to St. Vincent's Medical Center with serious injuries, firefighters said. His injuries included an abrasion on his forehead and lacerations to his left cheek, left side of his neck and left forearm, according to the State Police report.

AMR paramedics treated Sarafin while the extrication took place, according to the Fire Department's report.

"We get ejections every so often, especially when they don't have their seat belts on. A lot of fatalities we get are usually ejections," Chavenello said. Chavenello said he couldn't say for certain whether Sarafin was wearing a seat belt because the car was so badly mangled. He said Sarafin was likely ejected out of the side of the car because the crash "ripped the side of the car right off."

The State Police report said Sarafin wasn't wearing a seat belt and no passengers were in the Corolla.

According to the State Police report, Sarafin was driving in the right lane of I-95 when he left that lane and entered the off-ramp to the rest area. The left front end of Sarafin's Corolla collided with the right rear portion of the tractor trailer, which was "partially within the the off-ramp to the Interstate 95 Northbound Fairfield rest area," according to the report.

Two engine companies and two ladder companies responded to the crash.

The accident remains under investigation by State Police.