The incident occurred on a road made slick by rain on June 19, 2009 as crews responded to a previous crash on Sand Creek Road.
The driver, Nick Otter, didn't have insurance and police reports blamed him for the crash.
Otter was 28 years old when the incident occurred and had racked up nine infractions on his driving record including careless driving, running a stop sign and two citations for speeding, according to the report.
He rounded a sharp curve and slammed his pickup truck into the bright yellow fire truck that was stopped with its lights flashing.
In a police report, Deputy Robert Blair wrote that Otter's truck was traveling at a fast rate of speed and that the impact forced the fire truck to move forward.
Otter was badly hurt in the collision. He suffered leg injuries and his lung was punctured by broken ribs. Frenchtown Township Firefighter Fred Carter, who was manning the pumper truck, helped free the man from the wreck and most likely saved his life.
Otter was ticketed for driving without insurance and it was later discovered that a judge had previously suspended his license as part of his probation for a drug conviction, but the Monroe County clerk's office failed to notify the Secretary of the State and the suspension didn't go through.
Otter's lawyer, John Kaplansky, claims the firefighter saved his client from an injury he may have caused, saying that Otter was not speeding and that he did not cross the center line. While the fire truck appears to be on the center line in police photos, he claims it was in Otter's lane and was moved across the center line by the impact.
"The position of the vehicle -- which very well may have been backing up at the time -- is the cause of the accident," Kaplansky told the news station.
Because Otter didn't have insurance, under the no fault law he can't sue for anything except lost wages. When the crash occurred, he didn't have a job, but in the lawsuit he's now disabled and is unable to work.
A jury will most likely decide who will be held responsible in this crash. The attorney for Frenchtown Township declined to comment but said his plan at this point is to take the case to trial.
