A newly dedicated Laurens Fire Department tanker flipped over on county Route 11 on Sunday while responding to a separate motor vehicle accident.
Fire Chief Tom Brownell said he was driving the tanker on a straight stretch of highway and was reaching for the emergency radio when the 34,000-pound truck went into a ditch and landed on its roof.
"We weren't going very fast," Brownell said.
The crash just after 3 p.m. happened when he took his eyes off the road and the truck's tires slipped off the shoulder of the highway, he added.
The department has two other tankers, Brownell said, and the loss will not prevent the Laurens Fire Department from providing fire protection services to local residents.
State police at Oneonta said they had no information on the first crash and little information on the second crash involving the fire truck.
But troopers said both occupants of the fire truck were taken to Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. They said they did not have any information on if tickets were issued.
Brownell said he and another firefighter were treated and released from the hospital.
The tanker, in service since last fall, was dedicated Saturday to longtime-Laurens firefighters Leonard Carson Sr., Stan Garlick, Bill Gravelin and Jim Brownell.
The truck was heavily damaged in the wreck and suffered even more damage as it was flipped back onto its wheels, Brownell said. The truck is insured and the department was waiting to hear from an insurance adjuster on the extent of the loss.
"I can only assume it's going to be over $100,000," Brownell said.
Despite the heavy damage, the crash could have been worse, he said.
In similar accidents where a fire truck's tires go off the shoulder, drivers sometimes overcorrect, causing the truck to rollover several times, Brownell said.
"I avoided that by staying in the ditch," Brownell said.
Brownell said the department plans to replace the tanker, which will be dedicated to the same firefighters recognized Saturday.
Republished with permission from The Daily Star
