Putting his training to the test

Kofa high senior and aspiring firefighter jumps in to render aid after crash on Interstate 8

When a Kofa High School senior saw a bad accident on Interstate 8 Saturday night, he didn’t hesitate. Instead, the 18-year-old with aspirations to one day become a firefighter sprang into action, joining bystanders in rendering aid until first responders arrived.

The incident happened at approximately 10:45 p.m. as 18-year-old Vaughn Grosse, along with his mother, Gen Grosse, and scout leader Jacob Anderson, were coming back from Tempe. Earlier that evening, they had attended the Boy Scouts of America Gila River District’s annual awards ceremony and were on their way home to Yuma.

Shortly after passing Dateland, they came upon a crash. Several vehicles were pulled over with their hazard lights on, prompting them to do the same.

“I saw a car in the road that was smoking from the front end and several military vehicles,” Vaughn said. “I jumped out of our car, told my mom to call 911 and went to see if I could help in any way.”

Once he got to the crash site, Vaughn saw a medic tending to the injured driver on the road. Vaughn helped move the injured man away from the car when the car caught on fire.

“The flames were getting pretty large at that point,” Vaughn said. “He was complaining of lower back pain, so I kept talking to him trying to reassure him and keep him comfortable.”

With the injured man at a safe location, Vaughn then turned his attention back to the burning vehicle.

He and three other Marines ran from vehicle to vehicle asking drivers if they had extinguishers that they could use to try and put the fire out.

“I got one from a semitruck and ran it back to the Marine who was using them on the fire,” Vaughn said. “I think we used about 10 extinguishers on the fire and the one I found was the sixth or seventh one.”

The Tacna Fire Department arrived on scene a short time later and put

out the fire, followed shortly after by Tri-valley Ambulance, which took over treating the injured man.

“He told me he did not want to leave until it was over, and the injured man was safely in the back of an ambulance,” Gen Grosse said of her son Vaughn. “It was incredible to watch him in action. We just couldn’t be prouder of him.”

A state trooper from the Arizona Department of Public Safety also responded to the crash and Vaughn placed reflective emergency triangles on the roadway.

The injured man was later transported by Tri-valley to a waiting helicopter and flown to a Phoenix-area hospital for further treatment.

Gen explained that they stayed after the Boy Scout ceremony to help clean up after the event and if they had not, they would have missed the crash.

A senior at Kofa High School, Vaughn has been in the Yuma Fire Department’s Co-op program for the past six months. He was able to put his training to use during the incident.

“I know my assistance was of use and I’m grateful to have been able to help,” Vaughn said.

No other information was available about the crash as of press deadline, as AZDPS did not respond to phone or email.