If AJ Kramer had arrived at his parent’s Barnhart home on time on June 7, two people could have died that day.
Kramer, a former Antonia firefighter, along with his father, Art, a retired Antonia Fire battalion chief, and AJ’s 13-year-old son, Landon, helped save a man and a woman from an SUV that ran off Klable Road in Barnhart, hit a tree, ended up in a creek and caught fire.
Unfortunately, one man died in the accident.
The Antonia Fire Protection District recognized the Kramers for their efforts to help those trapped in the SUV following the accident, presenting them with Life Saving awards at the July 14 Board of Directors meeting.
“There is no doubt in my mind that there are two people alive today because of their actions,” Antonia Fire Battalion Chief Curt Ehrhard said when presenting the awards.
“It feels good to know we were able to save two lives who would have most likely perished if we hadn’t been there with the conditions that were in the vehicle,” said AJ, 37, of Barnhart.
The incident
AJ, who now is a firefighter with the Maplewood Fire Department, and his son were getting ready June 7 to leave for a boat trip with AJ’s parents, Art and Kathy. The two junior Kramers arrived at Art and Kathy’s house later than scheduled, and just moments after the SUV, a 2007 Kia Sorento, ran off the nearby road.
At about 9:30 a.m., the SUV had crossed the center line on Klable Road and went off the left side of the road. It hit a tree and overturned into a creek, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
“I heard the crash, and my wife was by the camper putting stuff in,” said Art, 66, who retired from Antonia Fire in 2017 after a 42-year career with the district. “She said someone ran into the creek. When I looked towards the creek, I saw the smoke. Then a second later, I saw flames through the trees.
“I hollered for her to call the fire district. I ran to my workshop and got a fire extinguisher and jumped on my four-wheeler to get down there.”
As Art raced towards the accident, AJ was pulling up to his parents’ house. He followed his father to the accident site.
“We saw smoke and flames immediately,” AJ said.
Art said he used the fire extinguisher to partially knock down a fire that had started in the SUV’s engine. However, the fire flared back up when the vehicle’s fuel started feeding it.
He said he told AJ and Landon they needed another fire extinguisher. Landon said he got on the four-wheeler to ride it back to his grandparent’s house to get one, but he couldn’t get the ATV started.
“I started running back, and my grandma picked me up and drove me back to the house,” Landon said. “Then we drove back to the creek and I got them the fire extinguisher. Then they were pulling people out.”
Art said he heard people screaming from inside the Sorento, but he couldn’t find a door to access the vehicle. He got to the back of the SUV and saw the rear window was shattered, and he started pulling out suitcases from the back of the vehicle in an effort to get to the people inside the SUV.
“A woman came out first,” Art said. “She crawled out the back, and I handed her off to (AJ),” Art said. “Two others were in there. One man was yelling. I kept hollering at him to come back to the light, because we couldn’t get through the window with all of the stuff in there. He finally showed up. An arm came out of the back of the van, and we helped him out. By that time, the smoke was banking down into the vehicle, and we couldn’t get to the other man.”
The woman who emerged first was Jennifer M. Grinstead, 39, of Villa Ridge. She was driving the SUV and was transported by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County with serious injuries, according to the highway patrol report.
The man who came out after her was Jason C. Grady, 40, of High Ridge. He also was transported by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in serious condition, the report said.
Grinstead and Grady were treated and released from Mercy Hospital South, a hospital spokesman later said.
Ralph L. Voegtlin, 22, of Hillsboro died in the accident, the patrol reported.
Neither Grinstead nor Grady could be reached for comment.
Rare award
Ehrhard couldn’t say how many Life Saving awards Antonia Fire has awarded over the years, but he said it’s not very common.
When the fire district awards them, the rescues are typically challenging or unusual, Ehrhard added.
He said the accident the Kramers helped with was challenging because the SUV was down a 10-foot embankment in a creek, which made it difficult to get to, and because the vehicle had caught fire, making it dangerous to try to help free the people inside.
On the day of the accident, Antonia Fire got a call about it at 9:37 a.m., and the first firetruck arrived about six minutes later, with the second truck getting to the accident about three minutes after that. Ehrhard said three firefighters were on each truck, and the crew on the first truck couldn’t handle the blaze themselves, and the second truck was needed to get the fire under control.
He said the two people rescued from the SUV were fortunate the Kramers were near the accident and took action as quickly as they did.
“We run a number of calls, and on some calls, people try to help. In this case, it was two of our own helping,” Ehrhard said. “It is rare to have someone help, who knows how to help. We were fortunate that day to not only have people who wanted to help but knew how to help.”