Delaware County Firefighter Dies In Crash On Way To Fire

A firefighter with the Leach Fire Department died Wednesday morning in a single-vehicle crash on his way to a structure fire, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. 

Troopers say Michael Dale Russell, 68, from Rose, Oklahoma, was pronounced dead at the scene with massive injuries. The crash occurred at about 7:30 a.m. February 22 southwest of Leach on county road S510 in Delaware County. 

Russell was traveling southbound in a 2003 Freightliner tanker truck on a county road when he ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected and the truck overturned 1.5 times, coming to rest on its top, the OHP report states. 

Russell was ejected out the driver's side window and was pinned under the truck for two hours. 

Troopers say he was not wearing a seatbelt. 

OHP is still investigating the cause of the crash, but included in the report that it was foggy at the time of the crash.