Eight firefighters were injured when a fire truck crashed on a highway near Irvine, California, Thursday evening, authorities said.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Fire Authority fire truck overturned on State Route 241 around 6:50 p.m. local time in the Portola Springs area, near State Route 133.
A ladder in the road caused the fire truck and another vehicle to swerve in front of it, the highway patrol said. The truck hit a nearby guardrail and overturned. No other vehicles appeared to be involved.
Initially, the highway patrol reported that 12 firefighters were injured, but that was later reduced to eight. Six were “very seriously” injured and two were slightly injured, 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 took the seven others to local medical centers. Two of the patients were in stable condition.
Shortly after the accident, CHP officers decided to close the northbound lanes of the freeway for five hours.
Video footage from the crash scene showed the crashed vehicle with an “Orange County Fire Authority Santiago Hand Crew” sticker. The highway patrol said firefighters were Huge fire at airport before the crash. Fennessey said they were on their way home after a 12-hour shift.
