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Yesterday, A firetruck in my station rolled over. that was the scariest thing i've ever heard over the fire&Rescue system. Basically from what ive heard from the driver is: They were going down a windy road, doing about the speed limit, then around a curve a dump truck was a lil too far over, so the driver had to move over(he slowed first{fire trucks are heavy}) and the boom, blow out right front. the truck was turning right and started going up an embankment then it went over and slid on its side about 200ft. the driver of the dump truck didnt even stop. later the police found the driver and arrested him(im not sure on charges) but most of us sure the truck is totaled. bent frme, bent axels(front and rear) no glass on the truck, left side is torn up, tank is ruptured. this is the 2nd truck in 3 months to get 10-50ed by a dumptruck but the first one wasnt nearly as servere. the good news is that there was only minor injuries.
Any comments or questions?
Tim
Sorry to hear about the truck and glad to hear that everyone was alright.
Well, not any damage to the truck but our LTI quint (69,000LB)had to "nudge" a camero out of a fire lane once. It was the only way to get to the fire in an apartment complex. It was a pretty lop sided battle. Not a scratch on the truck. BTW-I love that truck 475HP Detroit deisel, 110 foot aerial ladder, 1500GPM waterous pump, and 1000GPM prepiped waterway. . I haven't been in the fire service long but I love it.
Nobody was seriously hurt - that's the most important part and the only thing to worry about.
You guys put your lives on the line every day, and rarely recieve any recognition for it. A firetruck is just a bunch of glass and steel (and whole lot of H20!) and can be replaced.
Everyone went home to their families last night. That's the important part.
a local department from around here lost a truck last year.
they were turning around to get in a different wood's road (bush fire) and they got T-boned by a loaded log truck..... blew the tank right off the truck, and smashed the cab to peices. 2 FF's were sent to hospital with serious injuries, luckly, both are fine now...
i've seen some close calls, ppl just don't give us the room we need.
We haven't had a any total losses in our FD, but we' ve had our share of scrapes and buises to the trucks. We had a mechanic do a head job on one of our trucks.. he kinda forgot to take a bolt out of the cylinder area... it blew half the block apart - at a fire scene. Luckily it wasn't a pumper, but the truck needed a tow.
We've had plenty of close calls but luckily no accidents with the trucks. The main thing in the rollover is that everyone was more or less ok. Glad to hear that caught that truck driver.. he should be locked up for something like that.
Man that sucks!!! I feel for the driver of the engine....I do that for a living myself. I hope he wasn't going code 3, because that could change things dramatically for your department. As for the truck, I'm guessing without a doubt totalled. What kind was it, type 1, 2, 3? I drive a type 1 1500 gpm pump loaded to the hilt with everything you can buy out of the firehouse magazines lol....no joke this truck is WAYYYY overloaded and stopping is a luxury.
Tell the crew to get better soon.
A fellow firefighter from Califonia
I belong to a volunteer dept. It's always a challenge to drive the apparatus safely enroute to a call. Theres always the rush of adrenaline that comes with the call and the sense of urgency that accompanies it.
The driver of the rig has the responsability of getting the apparatus and equipment to the scene quickly and safely. A wreck on the way can be much worse than just damaged equipment, or injured friefighters. Mutual Aid backup can be a half hour or more in arriving at the scene in many places.
You have to remember that most fire apparatus is heavy machinery with a heavy load of water on it, so there are cases where the posted speed limit is probably too high, especially in wet or icy conditions and on sharp curves, or with a part load of water.
Well at least nobody caught my spelling error LOL (California)
And yes you have to drive for ...yourself, the moron in front of you, and the tailgater behind you because fire engines slow down like a semi. The adrenaline however long wore off years ago...I am to the point the siren annoys me...but I remember those days when I was a volunteer, and man ....I hear you on the urgency, half the battle or most of it was making it to the station so you could ride on the big red engine, but now its more like a pain to go to another call that someone has created due to stupidity, LIKE DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH A DUMP TRUCK...but it's rewarding knowing you helped somebody in need. I don't know about other states, but I'll be the first to tell you, if my odds of winning at the black jack tables in Las Vegas were as good as my chances of having a car in my lane every day I drive that fire engine....I would make Donald Trump look like a poor man! And unfortunately I can think of three engine crew accidents that left my friends either out of work or permanently disabled in the last 4 years, and one truck company that only totalled the truck thank the lord!
Glad to hear that there were only minor injuries. It could've been alot worse. People just don't think. I run out of a fire house in KY. It's to the point anymore, that if people start pulling over and getting out of the way, I really start to worry. Hopefully, they will prosecute the dump truck driver for leaving the scene, driving left of center, and for being an a** for not caring what happened to the crew of the fire truck. It's dangerous enough without people like that out there. Best wishes for your crew.
Glad to hear none of the brother's were seriously hurt. We can do that without any help!
I've seen numerous pix of crash trucks belly up after they've found a dry spot on an icy runway.
And when we take those big yellow trucks out on a public street, you'd better be paying attention, 'cause everybody wants to slow down and have a look. It's unfortunate, but most of the public doesn't realize what these trucks weigh and think our rigs can stop dime. I've seen crash trucks pass an accident 'cause the brakes overheated.
I remember living in Phoenix, and thinking that the fire trucks there were some of the most dangerous vehicles on the road. I mean, take a, what, 15 ton truck, send it down the road at 50mph or so. My friends used to call them road rockets. I have seen a few old people get whacked by them- somehow don't put two and two together that they shouldn't pull out in front of the truck with the flashing lights.
Theres an interesting law on the books here regarding Emergency vehicles. You are allowed to exceed the speed limit, and not come to complete stops at intersections, pass in restricted areas, etc.
-BUT-
The law that allows you to do this will not protect you from the consequences in the event that you cause an accident .
Here we're not allowed to exceed the speed limits, must come to a complete stop prior to entering an intersection against the red, and proceed through it at a walking pace.
Officially, the red lights and siren only request the right of way.
When you consider water weighs about 10lb per gallon, and some of the larger trucks carry 1500 to 2000 gallons, that's a load of 15,000-20,000lbs over the weight of the truck and equipment. It don't stop too quick!
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