OC Fire Crew Tree Crash Injures 4, Wreck Fire Truck

A solo fire truck wreck hospitalized four members of an Orange County Fire Authority crew and caused a street closure Wednesday night.

OCFA Engine 61 was responding to a medical aid call at about 7 p.m. when the crash took place near the Crescent Avenue and Los Altos Drive intersection per Capt. Marc Stone.

The Buena Park-based engine was turning from Crescent into a service road west of Los Altos when for an unwarned reason it ran on a median and struck a large pine tree. Further details of the situation were not made public as the situation remains under investigation.

“For some reason, they lost control,” Stone said.

An initial look at the scene shows where the wheel marks indicate the engine swerved prior to the collision.

The passenger’s side of the engine reportedly struck the tree causing heavy damage to the engine. Its impact injured four firefighters on various scales ranging from minor to moderate, none being life-threatening.

Approximately 10 to 15 feet of the upper section of the pine tree tore off on impact.

Medical professionals rushed the injured fire fighters to the UCI Medical Center facilities in Orange according to Stone.

There were no other personal injury or vehicle damage reports.

Due to the fire truck wreck, authorities temporarily shut westbound Crescent while investigators studied the scene to determine what happened.

Car accidents can happen to anyone, anywhere at unwarned times. It is advised that to prevent automotive wrecks people obey the rules of the road at all times, stay aware and remain cautions and alert always, especially on public roads.

Public roads are places where cars can come in from any direction at any speed. They are sometimes filled with novice and unlicensed drivers. Though it’s not only a novice drivers’ character to be distracted, sometimes experienced drivers too comfortable behind the wheel get preoccupied with subjects other than driving that call for their attention to be diverted off the road and crash.  At speeds of about 45 miles per hour a driver can easily travel the length of a football field within seconds without knowing it until it’s too late.

Distracted driving not only jeopardizes the safety and the finances of the person driving the vehicle and all of the other people on or near the road but that of the people they are connected to as well. If the provider of a family is struck by a distracted driver then is out of a job a then that family is out on the streets and who will provide for them?

If you have been injured in a wreck, contact an Orange County lawyer, you may be eligible for compensation.

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