Birmingham Firefighters Injured in Motor Vehicle Accident

In Birmingham, on Monday afternoon,  a collision between a fire engine and a truck sent five people to the hospital.  Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was responding to a call when the fire engine collided with a truck which failed to yield to the firefighters.  The truck was owned by Allen Tree Service, according to WJSU-TV.  In the accident, three firefighters and two other people ended up in UAB hospital with minor injuries.

The crash, according to Birmingham officials, sent the fire engine careening down an 80 foot embankment.  Fortunately, the truck ran through a row of bushes, which may have slowed it enough to keep it from ending up on a busy Interstate highway below the crash site.

The ABC station stated  Birmingham Police said  the truck driver failed to yield when the fire engine made a left hand turn.  One reason for the truck failing to yield may have been due to the heavy chipper it was pulling, as the chipper might have been too heavy for the truck to come to an abrupt stop.

Battalion Chief C.W. Mardis said, “This is possibly the busiest thoroughfare in the state, so it’s just a minor miracle that no further cars were involved here or down on the other side of the embankment.  We’re just fortunate the injuries were non life-threatening.”

Alabama rules of the road are the same as other states in that emergency vehicles – fire engines, ambulances, police vehicles and paramedic vans – always have the right-of-way.  You must give the right-of-way to the emergency vehicle by moving to the far right side of the road and stopping until it has passed safely.  You also yield at an intersection by stopping until the emergency vehicle has passed through the intersection.

The original article can be read here.

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