WAYNE HARRISON
The Denver Channel
Traffic was backed up for miles on U.S. Highway 285 Friday afternoon after a fire truck accident killed a firefighter in Conifer, Colo.
The 68-year-old member of the Elk Creek Fire Department, Ralph Vance, was the only one injured in the accident, which left the large fire truck laying on its side after going down a 100-foot embankment next to the highway, 7NEWS reported.
The injured firefighter was taken to a Flight For Life helicopter that had landed on the closed highway and airlifted to St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver where he died.
The fire truck was responding to a reported chimney fire when the accident occurred. The injured firefighter was the only one on the truck at the time of the accident. Other volunteer firefighters were responding to the fire in their own vehicles.
It was not immediately known why the fire truck went off the highway in a construction area where traffic is one lane in each direction. It was also not known if the firefighter suffered a heart attack or died from injuries suffered in the accident.
The highway was re-opened after the medical helicopter lifted off, but Airtrack7 reported that the backups were miles long in each direction.
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