By Ron Jackson
The Oklahoman
CASHION, Okla. — The Cashion fire chief and his wife are living what a fellow firefighter said is an emergency responder’s worst nightmare.
Fire Chief Danny Clark and his wife, Stephanie, an emergency medical technician, were the first to arrive at the scene of a traffic accident Sunday four miles south of Cashion. But when they got the call from the county dispatcher about a fatal accident, they didn’t know the person killed in the wreck was their daughter.
Kalee Jo Clark, 16, died when the sport utility vehicle driven by Corbin Derr, 18, of Edmond crashed into a tree and overturned about 3:55 a.m. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported the vehicle, filled with seven teenagers, was being driven at an unsafe speed for the wet road conditions.
“Pretty much every accident I’ve responded to I’ve known the people involved,” said Capt. Chuck Countryman of the Cashion Fire Department. “That’s what it’s like being a first-responder in a small town. If you don’t know them personally, you know their face.
“What they went through (Danny and Stephanie) is pretty much everyone’s worst nightmare. I have an 18-year-old who was in a car accident a short time ago. I was lucky. He came out of it with only a concussion. I can’t imagine what they are feeling at this moment. I just know we are all with them.”
Members of the community will pay tribute to Kalee Clark today during a memorial service at Heritage Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Services begin at 10 a.m.
In truth, the tribute has been under way.
“Precious,” Sharity Farrow said in describing Kalee Clark. “Absolutely precious.”
Farrow works as an assistant to Stephanie Clark, who also serves as Cashion’s town clerk.
“It’s all just surreal,” Farrow said. “We’re all just really sad, and praying for the family.”
Local residents have set up a memorial fund at Community State Bank in Cashion. Donations can be mailed to: Clark Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 220, Cashion, OK 73016.
Derr was treated for internal trunk and arm injuries and released from a hospital. Other passengers in the SUV were Trevor Kinner, 17; Meaghen Carter, 17; Harley Hernandez, 16; Caitlin Minard, 15; and Dahir Flores, 16, all of Cashion. Minard was upgraded from serious to good condition Wednesday at OU Medical Center.
No one in the SUV was wearing a seatbelt, the patrol reported.
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