Four WY Firefighters Injured in Crash at Accident Scene

Four Wyoming volunteer firefighters were injured when a car collided with their parked apparatus while they were cleaning up a previous accident scene.

The incident happened at around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday as Wamsutter firefighters were clearing an earlier rollover accident involving a pickup truck along Interstate 80, near mile maker 170, the news website SweetwaterNOW reports. That's when a convertible Ford Mustang slid off the interstate and rear-ended the apparatus.

Although no one was in the apparatus at the time, the five firefighters in the crew were standing near the unit when the crash occurred. The Mustang struck two of the firefighters, and a third firefighter was hit by the apparatus, which skidded several feet from the force of the car's impact, according to the online news outlet.

A fourth firefighter suffered minor injuries trying to avoid the Mustang. The final member of the crew was with the driver involved in the earlier accident and wasn't hurt.

After hitting the apparatus, the Mustang stopped in the middle of the interstate with the driver trapped inside. The firefighters at the scene—including those who had been injured—extricated the driver from his car, and he was taken to a hospital in Rawlins before being airlifted to Salt Lake City.

The four injured firefighters also were taken to a hospital in Rawlins, where they were treated and released early Thursday.

It's not clear how much damage was sustained to the two-year-old apparatus, which had been parked on the shoulder of the interstate, but it could be a total loss. The Sweetwater County and Carbon County fire departments is helping the Wamsutter Volunteer Fire Department with fire service coverage, SweetwaterNOW added.