FRAMINGHAM, Mass. --
Four Framingham firefighters were hurt when their fire engine veered off the road Saturday morning, tipping over and crashing into a pole before coming to rest upright in the front yard of a home.
A fire engine rolled over into the front yard of a home on Edgell Road in Framingham on Saturday morning, snapping a utility pole and sending four fighters to the hospital. All four are expected to survive their injuries.
Engine 7 was involved in the crash on Edgell Road at about 7:20 a.m., Framingham Fire Chief Gary Daugherty said.
Investigators were still trying to determine whether the 20-ton engine suffered a mechanical failure or if driver error caused the truck to lock up and careen over the curb, rolling onto its side, snapping a pole, and flipping upright again. Witnesses said that shrubbery in a neighbor’s lawn may have caught the truck and stopped it from continuing to roll. Power was shut off to part of the neighborhood after the crash.
Daugherty said the 9-year-old fire engine was totaled. The left side of the truck, which was surrounded by police and fire vehicles, was crushed when it smacked into the ground, and the windshield was shattered. Skid marks could also be seen in the road leading up to the accident site.
Four firefighters who suffered minor injuries were treated at Metrowest Medical Center. Daugherty said they were treated for cuts, shoulder pain and back pain. One of the four men returned to the crash site, walking with a limp at about 11:30 a.m. after being released from the hospital.
Daugherty said the firefighters, who had been on duty since 8 a.m. Friday, were returning from a call for a cooking fire on Vernon Street when the crash occurred. The engine was called off before it arrived, and the crew was returning to the Water Street Station.
Daugherty said the firefighters each have more than 20 years experience, and that all four men were wearing seatbelts during the crash. He said the truck was not scheduled for any maintenance, and that the crew was not speeding or using the emergency lights or sirens when the engine swerved off the road.
The fire department planned to call the truck’s manufacturer, Pierce Fire Apparatus, on Monday to discuss the crash with an engineer, Daugherty said. A State Police accident reconstruction team was also investigating at the scene Saturday.
The truck will be towed to either the fire department headquarters at 10 Loring Drive or a State Police impound lot for further inspection, after it is lifted out of the yard with a crane.
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