Iowa Firefighter Charged Following Ambulance Crash

An Iowa firefighter, who was driving an ambulance involved in a collision, has been charged by police.

Mason City Firefighter Schuyler Townsend, 26, was charged with failure of caution of an emergency vehicle, according to The Globe Gazette.

The wreck on Sunday that occurred as the ambulance was headed to a hospital with a patient left five people with minor injuries.

Townsend approached the intersection while the light was red, slowed, then continued on through the red light, police told the paper.

The driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe, Steven Bombella, 42, said he didn't see the ambulance until it was too late. His SUV broadsided the ambulance.

Townsend, and fellow firefighters Shannon Furst, 35, and Peter Bieber, 40, as well as the patient, Bombella and his son, were released after treatment at a local hospital.

Ambulances are required to slow down and not enter the intersection until it is safe to do so, said Lt. Ron VandeWeerd told reporters.