BRUNSWICK COUNTY -- Sunday morning in Brunswick County a team of firefighters in a fire truck on their way to a call smashed into another truck. Five people, including three firefighters, were sent to the hospital. One of those firefighters suffered serious injuries.
It happened at the Lanvale Road, Highway 17 intersection in the Winnabow area.
Leland Fire Department Assistant Chief Joe McLean said, "Making sure my people was all right and the people they hit was all right. That's my biggest concern."
Assistant Chief McLean says the Leland Fire Department has responded to countless car accidents, but this one hit close to home.
Three Leland firefighters were injured after their fire truck struck an oncoming pickup truck and rolled in a collision on Highway 17.
"It's hard. It's very hard. But, we'll go back and once everyone calms down, we'll sit down and talk about it. If anyone's got any problems, I have people I can call and bring in to professionally talk about it and work out the problems," McLean said.
Highway Patrol officials say the Leland firefighters were responding to a fire alarm at Hunter Stone Apartments in Brunswick County.
The driver of the fire truck, 25-year-old Jeffrey Benton, made a left turn from Lanvale Road onto Highway 17-North. He ran a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck.
Highway Patrol Officer Trent Chaviz said, "There were four people in the truck, three in the fire truck. Three in the fire truck were transported; two out of the pickup truck were transported."
One of the firefighters, 33-year-old Kelly Gore, was airlifted. All victims were transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Hospital officials say four of the five victims have since been released. Kelly Gore is in good condition.
Highway Patrol officials say firefighter Jeffrey Benton told investigators the fire truck's brakes failed, which is why he ran the stop sign. Benton has been cited with equipment violations and failure to yield to right of way.
