The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-22
CHIEF BENNETT l. IN BAD SMASHUP
RUNS MACHINE INTO CURB
 WHILE RUNNING 50 MILES AN R HOUR TO PREVENT COLLISION | WITH TRUCK

| But for the coolness of Chief A. " 1 Bennett of the fire department yester- day shortly after noon. two members of i-the fire department would have been
 crushed to death, several others serious fly injured and the automobile truck al the central station badly damaged. [ Choosing between running into the rear of the central station truck and throw | ing his machine on the curbstone, Chief
 Bennett took his own life in his hands yesterday at 12:1o o'clock and guided his heavy machine full into the curb when the automobile was going at the rate of 50 miles an hour. That Chief Bennett was not killed or seriously injured Is considered remarkable, as he was going at terrific speed when the accident4 oc- cured which forced him to choose. While Chief Bennett escaped Injury, his car was badly wrecked. Both front wheels of his car were badly damaged and one was torn completely from the body of the machine. The engine es- capped undamaged and the other parts will be repaired.
 The accident was entirely unavoidable, states Chief Bennett, and was caused by the desire of the drivers of both ma
 chimes to get to the fire as quickly as
 possible. The department was answering
 call to Fifth avenue. between Four
 teenth and Fifteenth streets The auto
 mobile truck went down Fourth avenue
 to get to the fire and Chief Bennett went down Fifth. Chief Bennett had his car
 wide open when the heavy truck turned
 into Fifth avenue from Sixteenth street.
 Driver -Waggoner did not see the chief s
 machine. as he was going some himself.
 The truck was so close to the chief that
 there was no time to turn out and rather
 than strike the wagon the chief threw
 his machine onto the curb.
 Captain Sidney Middleton and Fireman
 Edwards were riding on the rear of the
 truck and had the automobile struck the
 truck would have been instantly killed.
 They were the only ones who realized their danger and before they could act it was over The first that the other
 members of the crew knew of their mar
 row escape was when they heard the
 crash of Chief Bennett's machine as it
 struck the curb and plowed it's way sev-
 eral yards before stopping.
 The iron nerves of Chief Bennett did
 not give way under the tension and his
 first thought was for his men. His nar-
 row escape did not affect him at all. His
 statement of the accident is as follows:
 "The accident was nobodys fault. Both
 of us wanted to get to the fire as quick
 as possible and that was what caused it. I went down Fifth avenue to the
 fire and as my machine was in first
 class condition I was going at about 50
 miles an hour or a little better. Just as I reached Sixteenth street the automo-
 bile truck from the central station shot
 out of Sixteenth street and turned down
 Fifth avenue just in front of me. As IF was going 20 miles an hour faster than they were knew that it was a question of running into the rear of the truck and killing Captain Middleton and Edwards, or hitting the curb. Naturally I hit the curb"
 Said Captain Sidney Middleton:
 The thing happened almost in sec ond We were going down Fifth ave- nue as fast as we could and chief was behind us, going about 20 miles an hour faster than we were. The second he saw that he would hit us he damned his wheel over and she hit the curb. I thought that he would be badly hunt but he got up as calm as usual.'
 It is looked upon as one of the nar- rowest escapes that a Birmingham fire man has had and both Chief Bennett and Captain Middleton and Edwards thought that someone would be hurt.