NEWTON, Mass. --
A Newton firefighter was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries after a dangerous overnight accident involving his own truck.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that fire crews were dousing flames in a Dumpster on Tudor Street just before midnight Monday when the truck slipped out of gear and rolled over a firefighter.
His fellow crew members had to use the Jaws of Life to get him out.
He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Several other firefighters suffered smoke and diesel inhalation from the rescue effort.
The fire chief said he was thankful everyone survived.
"Basically he got trapped. He saw the truck coming at him and thank God it hit a big pine tree in front because that's what stopped it. And the rest of the crew went into a rescue mode to free him, he was pinned underneath the truck. His injuries were a compound fracture to the left forearm. They did a scan at the hospital and he had a double fracture of the shoulder blade. He had a heavy scalp laceration from the forward back that they were stapling back in place. But no internal injuries," Chief Joseph Lacroix of the Newton Police Department said.
Fire officials said this was the third equipment-related accident in the past several weeks for the department. They said on Apr. 25, two firefighters were hospitalized after the rear springs on a truck failed. Crews blame some of the accidents on aging equipment.
