Prince George County recently purchased five new fire engines and one new ladder truck (Quint). The apparatus was delivered on March 27, 2007. The price tag weighed in at $2,603,835, the largest purchase of apparatus the county of Prince George has ever made at once.
In just a few short minutes, faster than the blink of an eye, on January 2, 2008, one of the new engines became a piece of twisted wreckage and three Prince George firefighters were on the way to the emergency room.
"It's an incident I have been dreading and that I hoped would never happen since becoming director," Max Bornstein, Director of Fire, EMS and Emergency Services solemly said.
On January 2 around 1530 hours, Prince George Engine 110 was involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer at a busy intersection in Prince George County. Three firefighters were transported by ambulance to Southside Regional Hospital.
Officials said the firefighters just had bumps, bruises and scratches.
"Two of the three firefighters were wearing seatbelts," Bornstein explained, "the one without had briefly unsnapped his belt to do something and it was during that minute the crash occurred."
Prince George Engine 110 was responding to a fire call and according to Captain Eric Young of Prince George County Police, the apparatus had lights and sirens activated.
The crash occurred at County Drive (Rt 460) and Rives Road.
It was a wild, scary ride for the firefighters as they collided with the tractor trailer and were spun around 180 degrees.
Bornstein said the front passenger door was jammed and had to be popped open to remove the firefighter from the seat.
"I firmly believe," Bornstein said, "that the actions of the driver prevented it from being worse than it could have been. Another factor is the construction and the intregity of the vehicle, a Pierce, which provided protection from that impact. The door was still intact after the crash,it was just jammed."
The investigation is ongoing, the Director explained. "We are thankful it wasnât worse than what it was."
