Aug. 09--At 9:05 a.m. Thursday, a call rang out about a man suffering chest pains, so four firefighters jumped on their engine and sped out of Station 41 near Ridgeway High.
Barely seven minutes later, at the intersection of Ridgeway and Interstate 240, that engine collided with a white Ford Taurus, critically injuring a 29-year-old mother and her 1-year-old son.
The child was ejected from the car, police said, while the mother was trapped inside.
Firefighters from the wrecked pumper then worked to stabilize the child while also extracting the mother from the demolished car. The mother was rushed to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis while the child was taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital; both are in critical condition.
One of the firefighters was also taken to Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital in noncritical condition.
The accident shut down portions of the East Memphis area for almost three hours as crews worked to remove the Taurus as well as the fire truck, which had moderate damage to its front.
Investigators were working to determine what happened Thursday afternoon.
"We have concern for the two individuals, the woman and child who were injured," Memphis Fire Department Battalion Chief Keith Staples said. "The investigation will lead to what actually took place in this case. It will be a learning event for all of us."
Another emergency vehicle was dispatched for the man experiencing chest pains, officials said, and he was also hospitalized.
Staples said that, normally, both the engine and an ambulance would have been dispatched to help the man suffering chest pains, but the ambulance was on another call. That just left the engine, which also carried some lifesaving equipment.
Staples said the department's drivers are trained to navigate traffic while responding to emergencies.
"Our drivers, all of our personnel that operate emergency vehicles, are trained to drive defensively. We still have to obey traffic laws," he said.
"The state legislature did pass the 'move over' law, to require people to stop to the right when emergency vehicles are on the scene," Staples said.
Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
