UPDATE: Two Killed After Ambulance,TDOT Crash

Posted:

David Cline

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Two people have been killed after an ambulance slammed into the back of a TDOT vehicle on Interstate 65 near Wedgewood Avenue.

Officials said the Rural/Metro ambulance was traveling in the northbound lanes when it hit the truck.

"We don't know, at this point, why the TDOT driver was stopped. But again, he was clearly to the side of the road," said Kristin Mumford, Metro police spokeswoman.

The two fatalities are the driver of the ambulance, 36-year-old off-duty Franklin City firefighter David Cline, and the patient being transported, 78-year-old Sue Bly.
PHOTOS: Ambulance Slams Into Back On TDOT Truck

An off-duty Metro firefighter, Evans Johnson, was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition. Johnson was tending to Bly at the time of the crash. He has been upgraded to stable condition.

Johnson is a C-shift firefighter at Station 25 on White Creek Pike in North Nashville.

The driver of the TDOT truck, Robert Green from Columbia, was transported to a hospital with minor injuries. Green was released from the hospital Friday afternoon.
Sky5 Video: Ambulance/TDOT Crash On I-65

Officials do not know why Cline left the roadway.

"The ambulance was running non-emergency. They were transporting an elderly woman from her dialysis back to her retirement home," said Mumford.

David Cline was a 9-year veteran of the Franklin Fire Department, stationed in the Fieldstone Farms area. Grief counselors will be on hand in Franklin Friday to help Cline's co-workers deal with his death. He is survived by a wife and children.

Franklin's fire chief released a statement:
"The pain that our entire staff feels as a result of this tragic and unexpected loss of one of our own is immeasurable. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with David's family."

Information about the other victim, Sue Bly, wasn't available.

Rural/Metro is a private ambulance company that serves Franklin County, but also does private transport through out Middle Tennessee.
Statement from Rural/Metro of Tennessee

Both Cline and Johnson were working approved, part-time jobs with the ambulance company. First reports indicate both the ambulance and the TDOT truck did not have their emergency lights on when the crash occurred.