LONG BEACH, Calif -- A fire truck responding to a traffic accident early Sunday morning became involved in one itself when it collided with a car, critically injuring three passengers, an official said.
Moments after the firefighters used Jaws of Life equipment to free four people, they rushed on foot to rescue a woman pinned under another car in a separate incident at a nearby fast-food restaurant, according to Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Wayne Chaney.
The five firefighters were responding to a 1:27 a.m. call about an injury traffic accident at Seventh Street and Studebaker Road, Chaney said.
The ladder truck was heading south on Pacific Coast Highway at Seventh Street when it collided with a northbound car, Chaney said. Another fire truck was dispatched to the crash at Studebaker; the firefighters at Seventh freed the four passengers, including a 17-year-old female, and then conducted triage at the scene.
The three adults were identified as Nicholas Ferranding, 20, residence unknown, and Marcel Curtis, 22, and Patrick McClinton, 23, both of Signal Hill. McClinton, the driver, was given a blood test at the hospital, partly because open containers were found in the car, Chaney said. Test results were not immediately available.
The car was totaled; the right front of the fire truck was damaged.
As paramedics were attending to the injured, the firefighters heard a loud thud and screams from a Jack-in-the-Box parking lot at the northeast corner of the intersection.
A 47-year-old woman had been hit and pinned underneath a car. Firefighters used high-pressure airbags designed to lift thousands of pounds to free her.
Angela Paul of Lemoore was taken to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she was treated and released. She had been visiting a son at Cal State Long Beach, Chaney said.
The female driver in that case, not identified, was arrested for allegedly driving under the influ ence of alcohol, Chaney said.
"It was very fortunate it was a five-member ladder truck,' Chaney said, because it carried the crew and equipment needed in both accidents.
The firefighters, shaken by the collision, were treated by a stress management team.
