Two Houston Firefighters, Civilian Hospitalized Days After Crash

April 2, 2009
The pumper driver, Brian Edwards, and Capt. Michael Mayfield are still hospitalized, recovering from bone fractures.

HOUSTON --

Three people remained hospitalized Wednesday after two fire trucks collided in southwest Houston on Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Eleven people, including nine firefighters, were injured in the collision at the intersection of Dunlavy Street and Westheimer Road on Monday at 10:45 a.m..

A Houston Fire Department pumper truck traveling northbound on Dunlavy Street broadsided a ladder truck traveling west on Westheimer Road with enough force to lift the ladder truck off the ground.

The ladder truck rolled, hit a woman on a bicycle, snapped a utility pole and landed on top of a car.

The trucks were rushing to a fire that turned out to be a false alarm.

Investigators said the Opticom, an electronic device that allows emergency drivers to control traffic signals at intersections, was engaged at the time of the crash.

But, police said they are still not sure if the Opticom was working properly.

Investigators said they hope to clear that up when they question the truck drivers on Friday.

"From what we were told -- one of those vehicles had it equipped. Now, what time it was activated, all these types of things -- when do you activate it before you got to the intersection, did the ladder truck have enough time to stop, did its light just automatically go green to red once that device was activated on the other side of the intersection -- all those are going to play a factor at the end of this accident," said John Cannon of the Houston Police Department.

The initial investigation found that the driver of the ladder truck ran a red light on Dunlavy Street just before it was hit by the pumper truck.

The pumper driver, Brian Edwards, and Capt. Michael Mayfield are still hospitalized, recovering from bone fractures.

Cyclist Leigh Boone, 29, was hit by the ladder truck. She remains in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Copyright 2009 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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