PA Firefighter Badly Hurt After Motorist Drives Over Hose

Jan. 22, 2018
A Palmyra Citizens Fire Company firefighter suffered head trauma after a motorist ran over a hose.

A Palmyra Citizens Fire Company firefighter suffered head trauma and was knocked unconscious after a motorist ran over a hose at a fire scene. A second firefighter suffered less severe injuries.

According to the Lebanon Daily News, Palmyra firefighters were dispatched to an oven fire in a multi-dwelling building on Jan. 9 when the incident occurred.

At the scene, a fire hose was laid in the parking lot of the complex during the response when Karissa Morder, 21, of Palmyra, ran over the fire hose as she left the complex, the newspaper reported. Her vehicle dragged a hose coupling and knocked two firefighters to the ground. The hose was not charged at the time of the incident

One firefighter fell backwards when the hose moved and struck his head on the pavement and was rendered unconscious for five minutes, suffering both head and back injuries, the newspaper reported. A second firefighter fell forward and landed on his shoulder. He was treated at the scene.

Fire Chief Dave Dugan told the paper that it is both illegal and dangerous to drive over a fire hose, charged or not.

"People just need to realize the severity of what can happen just by simply driving over a hose," Dugan told the newspaper. "Something so innocent can lead to something very severe."

Morder, the driver who went over the hose, caused more than $2,000 to the hose and to the truck to which it was attached. She was charged with recklessly endangering another person, accident involving damage to attended vehicle or property and unauthorized driving over a fire hose, the newspaper reported.

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