The Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- A Fayetteville, N.C., firefighter driving a ladder truck was killed when the vehicle went into the path of an oncoming passenger trade at a grade crossing.
David Sharp, 31, of Aberdeen, N.C., died in the accident Friday evening as he was returning to a downtown fire house following a false alarm, authorities said.
Amtrak's southbound Silver Palm train was about a mile away from and approaching the downtown Fayetteville station when it hit the truck broadside on the driver's side. Sharp was the only person in the truck. None of the 174 passengers and 15 crew members aboard the New York-to-Miami train were injured.
The Cumberland Street crossing is marked by lights, bells and gates, and all were working when the wreck happened, Amtrak spokesman Ray Lang said. The signals were still on and the gate was down as police and railroad workers investigated the wreck.
The firefighter would have broken department policy if he tried driving around the activated crossing signals.
''That's a violation if that did in fact occur,'' said Deputy Fire Chief James Hall.
Lang said accidents happen at train grade-crossing an average of every 90 minutes. In most cases, the warning signals are working.
Fire and rescue workers arrived at the scene and consoled each other. Sharp was hired by the department in June 1988, said Jason Brady, a city spokesman.
The crumpled truck was pushed off the roadway and into a ditch after the impact. The train stayed on the rails and stopped about a city block away.
The train required no repairs and local investigators allowed it to continue its route at about 9 p.m. Friday, Lang said.
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