Richmond Times-Dispatch
Copyright 2008 Richmond Times-Dispatch
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico County firefighter died yesterday morning after he became pinned between a vehicle and a tree at his home in New Kent County.
Joseph J. Ritzenthaler had been with the Henrico Division of Fire for nearly six years, New Kent authorities said.
Rescue workers responding to a call in the 8900 block of Piney Branch Lane in Providence Forge found Ritzenthaler trapped. They pulled him out, provided medical care and took him to VCU Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead, authorities said.
Ritzenthaler may have been trying to start the vehicle to go to work, authorities said. The vehicle lurched forward and trapped him against the tree. His death is being investigated as an accident.
Elsewhere in the state, a man died Saturday night in a single-vehicle wreck in Madison County, Virginia State Police said.
Robert Lee Jenkins, 50, of Madison was killed when the truck he was driving struck a tree at 8:20 p.m., police said. The crash occurred on West Hoover Road, 10 miles west of Hebron Valley Road.
Jenkins was not wearing a seat belt, police said.
Also, a Vienna man died in a hospital Thursday of injuries he suffered in a crash more than a week earlier, state police said.
Wenceslao Tan Yap, 65, crashed a car shortly after noon on March 19 on Interstate 66 just east of Nutley Street in Fairfax County, police said. He was trying to avoid debris when the car ran off the left side of the road and hit a barrier, according to authorities. Police have not determined whether he was wearing a seat belt.
These fatalities bring Virginia’s 2008 highway death toll to 191, compared with 200 at the same time last year.