UPDATE: Houston Fire Department rigs collide. Ladder on its side crushing car and bicyclist. 9 firefighters, 2 civilians hurt. Video and pictures.
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Image from KTRK-TV. Click here for the station’s coverage.
Raw helicopter video from KHOU-TV
Houston Chronicle ground video
At 10:48 AM local time, a Houston Fire Department ladder and an engine were involved in a collision that turned Ladder 16 onto its driver’s side, crushing an automobile and taking down a utility pole. A woman on a bicycle was also caught under the wreckage and is reported in critical condition. Assistant Chief Omero Longoria reports the firefighters’ injuries are not life-threatening.
It happened on on Dunlavy at Westheimer. The pumper involved is from Station 7.
The rigs were responding to a report of an apartment fire in the 2100 block of San Felipe. There was no fire.
Here are details from The Houston Chronicle at 12:45 PM EDT:
One of the firefighters was thrown from a truck and suffered serious injuries, (District Chief Tommy) Dowdy said. One of the occupants of the car also suffered serious injuries.
The pumper truck was northbound on Dunlavy and the ladder truck was heading east on Westheimer, witnesses reported. The pumper truck struck the ladder truck from the side and the ladder truck rolled onto the front half of a white Infiniti sedan.
Bernard Proctor, who witnessed the accident, said he heard a loud boom when the firetrucks collided, then a sharp crack when one of the trucks struck a utility pole on the corner.
“It was the loudest sound I ever heard,” Proctor said. “It was crazy.”
Mario Casas, who works in a boutique at the intersection, said he saw the trucks collide and ran outside to help. Sparks were flying from cables that came down with a utility pole that one of the trucks had hit, he said.
Casas, 23, said he saw a passerby pulling the bicyclist from under the overturned ladder truck.
“I saw the lady. I thought she was dead, but she was breathing,” he said.
Casas added that several other people from nearby businesses ran to the crash site to help the injured.
Google Maps Street View: Click the image to tour area where crash occurred.
