Eight firefighters were hurt when a fire truck crashed on a freeway near Irvine, California, on Thursday night, authorities said.
The Orange County Fire Authority truck overturned on State Route 241 at about 6:50 p.m. local time in the Portola Springs area near State Route 133, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A ladder in the roadway caused the fire truck and another vehicle in front of it to swerve, highway patrol said. The truck collided with a nearby guard rail and overturned. It did not appear that any other vehicles were involved.
Initially, highway patrol reported that 12 firefighters were injured, but later downgraded that to eight. Six suffered “very serious” injuries and two minor injuries, a highway patrol officer at the crash site said.
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OCFA Chief Brian Fennessey said one of the firefighters was airlifted to a hospital while paramedics rushed the seven others to local medical centers. Two of the patients were in stable condition.
“We ask that you pray for our firefighters and their families,” Fennessey said. “All of the families have been notified. This is the beginning of a long road for many of those firefighters and our fire department.”
CHP officers issued a five-hour closure of the freeway’s northbound lanes shortly after the crash.
Video from the collision site showed the crashed vehicle with an “Orange County Fire Authority Santiago Hand Crew” decal. Highway patrol said the firefighters had been battling the massive Airport Fire before the crash. Fennessey said they were on the way home after a 12-hour shift.
