MEC&F Expert Engineers : FIREFIGHTER CRASHES HIS PICKUP TRUCK INTO WATER TANKER, BOTH HEADED TO HELLAM TWP. FIRE IN PENNSYLVANIA

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

FIREFIGHTER CRASHES HIS PICKUP TRUCK INTO WATER TANKER, BOTH HEADED TO HELLAM TWP. FIRE IN PENNSYLVANIA




FEBRUARY 18, 2015




HELLAM TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA




An East Prospect firefighter was injured Tuesday when she crashed into Craley Community Fire Co. water tanker as both were on their way to a Hellam Township fire, police said.

The crash happened about 9 a.m. in the 1200 block of Nursery Road in Lower Windsor Township, near the intersection of Country Club Drive.

The woman was southbound on Nursery Road and apparently lost control of her red pickup truck, which slid sideways into the northbound lane of travel and into the northbound water tanker, according to Lower Windsor Township Police Chief Tim Caldwell.

The tanker struck the passenger side of the pickup, he said, adding the East Prospect firefighter was alone in the pickup.

"Had there been a passenger in there, it would have been really, really bad," Caldwell said.

The water tanker is heavy by itself, plus it was carrying 2,000 gallons of water, the chief said.
Will recover: The East Prospect firefighter suffered moderate injuries, according to Craley Community Fire Chief Jesse Frantz.

"She'll be OK," Frantz said.
The injured firefighter was taken to York Hospital by Canadochly Ambulance, according to Caldwell.

"She was conscious when I was (at the scene), but I wouldn't say she was alert," Caldwell said.
The driver of the water tanker escaped injury, he said.
The tanker itself sustained some damage and was taken to an auto shop for some minor body work, according to Frantz. It was driven from the scene, he said.

The fire: Hellam Township Fire Co. Chief Eric Strittmatter said crews were called to a single-family home in the 6100 block of Mount Pisgah Road about 9:15 a.m.
Someone in the home had discarded hot embers from the home's wood stove outside, but placed them too close to the home, he said.
Flames traveled up the vinyl siding, but the bulk of the fire remained outside the home, according to Strittmatter.

"There was minor extension into a room on the first floor," he said, plus smoke damage throughout the house.
Strittmatter estimated damages at $50,000 but said the residents of the home weren't displaced.

Resident burned: A man who lives there suffered a minor burn in the fire before crews arrived, the station chief said.
The crash involving the water tanker didn't hamper fire-fighting efforts, according to Strittmatter.

"There was plenty of water at the scene," he said.

Assisting Hellam Township firefighters were crews from Wrightsville, Yorkana, Columbia and York Area United, he said. The Mountville Fire Co. in Lancaster County sent an air truck so crews could refill their air tanks.