Volunteers pitch in at scene of Wilton crash

WILTON – Deputy Fire Chief David Boissonnault said it was just part of his job.

Former ambulance attendant Tom Schultz said it was just one of those things you do.

Police Office John Fredette didn’t think it was all that unusual.

Other people who were at the scene of the accident think the three deserve some recognition.

Dec. 8, at about 10:40 a.m., Nedra Jasper of Wilton was driving with her two small sons in her 1993 Pontiac along Burton Highway toward the junction with Route 31 when she hit a patch of slush and black ice. She slid across the road and struck a boulder. The car rolled onto the driver’s side, pinning them in. The vehicle was still resting against the boulder.

Jasper was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown against the windshield, causing some facial injuries.

The two boys, ages four and 18 months, were secure in their car seats and uninjured.

Schultz and Boissonnault were among the first people at the scene.

Fredette said when he arrived people were already “trying to calm down the driver and the boys.”

The car was unstable, Fredette said, and one of the rescuers had crawled under the car to gets the kids out.

“I don’t think they were really at risk. If the car had tipped, it would have gone the other way,” Fredette said.

With the car against the boulder, rescuers had to break a window to free the boys.

Fredette said his job was to distract the boys and keep them looking at him, so they wouldn’t get covered with broken glass.

Once the window was open, Schultz and Boissonnault cut the seat belts and pulled the boys out.

The whole procedure took 30 to 40 minutes at most, Fredette said.

“We took them out of the back seat,” Boissonnault said. “It was nothing much, something we would do for anyone. It’s a job I volunteer for, and I enjoy doing it.”

The Wilton-Lyndeborough-Temple Ambulance crew treated Jasper. The car was towed from the scene with extensive damage.

“It shows the importance of using car seats properly,” said Police Chief Brent Hautanen.

Jasper could not be reached for comment.