Ladder Truck Crash Injures Five Philadelphia Firefighters

May 16, 2006
The truck was responding to a fire call in the Olney section of the city

» Video: Crash Scene

PHILADELPHIA -- Five firefighters and a SEPTA worker were injured in a wreck on the Boulevard at 5th Street Tuesday morning.

Police say a ladder truck from Ladder 22 was heading westbound on Roosevelt Blvd. responding to a fire call in the Olney section of the city when it collided with a SEPTA maintenance truck.

"There was a really loud bang, you didn't hear no tires skid or anything, I just hear 'em hit and then you heard the truck come through the fence and we ran down there and helped the firemen out of the truck cause they were all upside down and the driver of the fire truck was helping the guys in the back cause he couldn’t get out himself," said eyewitness Mark Higgins.

Five firefighters were transported to local hospitals and one police say, suffered life threatening injuries. The driver of the SEPTA truck was also injured.

Three of the firefighters have been released, but the SEPTA worker and two other firemen remain in the hospital. One of the firemen is in intensive care.

The intersection of 5th Street and the Boulevard was temporarily closed while emergency crews cleaned up scattered debris.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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