Yesterday I read about 5 volunteer firefighters who were transported to the hospital with various levels of injuries because of a collision with another fire truck from the same department going to a reported house fire. Today, I hear about another fire truck involved in an accident, this time with a private passenger vehicle with teenagers.
Now, I don’t know the specifics of either of these accidents but here is what I do know. In the first accident there were several firefighters injured. Neither of the crews made it to the fire in which they were called to, another department had to handle the call, and therefore, there was a significant delay in the response. In the second accident, the firefighters needed to extricate some of the teenagers out of the other car. Regardless of who was at fault, both of these incidents are a public relations nightmare.
It seems that nearly every week I can find a story about someone in the fire service being involved in an accident when either responding to the fire station, the fire itself, or returning to the fire station. We must find a way to operate in a safer manner. I understand that accidents happen, however, many of these appear to be preventable. At some point we need to stop the insanity.
Here is the link to the latest incident http://www.ksnt.com/news/local/story/Fire-truck-accident-sends-4-to-the-hospital/6uH7alOEYkyDP_sZ_OybDg.cspx
