Driver’s Wife, Two Dogs Do Not Survive Crash
WOODBINE — A pair of Good Samaritans were able to get the driver out of a burning, overturned car before flames consumed the vehicle, taking the lives of a passenger and two dogs.
Police and fire crews responded to the accident on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 4:14 p.m., on County Road 611 South at milepost 2.5 in Woodbine. According to the New Jersey State Police, a Subaru passenger vehicle driven by Walter Chattin, 77, of Villas, was southbound on CR 611 when it left the road and struck a utility pole, turning over on the driver’s side.
Chattin, his wife, Dianna, 70, and two dogs were trapped inside the vehicle.
Shortly after the crash, Paul Fowler was driving in the vicinity and he noticed dark smoke coming from the woods. He said someone sells corn nearby and he wondered if the stand was burning. When he was close enough, he saw a utility pole that had been cut in half and the Chattins’ vehicle on the driver’s side in the woods. He said he pulled over and his first clue that there was anyone in the Subaru was a hand on the windshield.
Fowler said he had nothing but a small hammer, but he began hammering on the windshield to attempt to break it and get the driver out. He was joined by another man, and between the two of them they were able to pull back the windshield enough to get the driver out of the vehicle.
“We got him out, but the fire was consuming the car more and more,” Fowler said. “He told us his wife and two dogs were in the back seat.”
Fowler said they heard no noise from the back seat and couldn’t see in. At about that time, a woman who stopped to help brought a shovel and they were able to break the passenger side windows and the sunroof; but the fire was moving fast and consumed the vehicle.
“The smoke was so thick we couldn’t see in the car,” Fowler said. “We didn’t know the woman in the car until we drug him out.”
Fowler, who drives a dump truck for JMS Trucking, Cape May Court House, said that is his main regret: that they didn’t know from the start that Mrs. Chattin was in the car. Likewise, had he been driving his work truck, he would have had a fire extinguisher available.
On the Cape May County Fire Wire Facebook page, a group member named Walt Chattin responded to Fowler’s post, saying, “Hi Paul, I was the driver of the car. You are a HERO!!! You saved my life, if you hadn’t broken the windshield out with your shovel and pulled me from the burning car when you did, I definitely wouldn’t be alive!”
Chattin, who said he was presently in the Cooper University Hospital Trauma Center with burns, broken legs, and other injuries, thanked Fowler for a “Herculean effort,” saying, “You had the courage to stop and save the life of stranger while risking your own life to do so!”
Chattin acknowledged that Fowler, and the others, did their best to save his wife and dogs.
Second Accident
Cape May County acknowledged that one of its vehicles was struck by a car on Tyler Road at the scene of the accident cleanup.
County Counsel Jeff Lindsay said in an email that the County Road Department was dispatched to block off the intersection at Tyler Road and Hamilton Avenue due to a motor vehicle accident. Orange traffic cones and a “Road Closed” sign were set up behind the County Road Department vehicle, which also had its yellow flashing warning lights activated.
A black Ford Fusion ran over the traffic cones and “Road Closed” sign and struck the tailgate of the county vehicle.
“It is my understanding that an ambulance was dispatched to assist the driver of the Ford Fusion and the driver was issued a summons,” Lindsay said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600 x-128.
