Ex Harwinton West, CT, Firefighter Reflects on Apparatus Collision that Led to NFPA Standard Changes

A longtime Harwinton West firefighter shared with current members of the department about a 1976 collision between two fire apparatus that resulted in NFPA changing their standards for riding on the tailboard of apparatus.

Firefighters on both apparatus were driving to a training that night when a mechanical issue caused the devastating crash. When the crews didn't show up the drill site, training officer Herb Bunnell drove the route to look for them.

“When I came down center hill and I saw the situation, it will stay in my mind forever," Bunnell told Fox61.com. 

"The first lead truck was out ahead of the tanker, and the U-joint broke on that truck, so it didn’t have any drive, and it rolled back into the tanker," he recalled this week.

A payloader was called to help separate the rigs to free an entrapped firefighter.

Two others suffered serious, life-altering injuries, including a woman whose leg was amputated at the hospital.

Bunnell said that crash caused the department to no longer allow firefighters to ride the tailboard of apparatus.

“There have been, obviously, improvements to fire vehicles since then. And we all have no more riding on the backs of trucks, everything is in the cab,” Bunnell said.

Bunnell said the loss of Plainville firefighter Ray Moreau weighs heavy on his heart this week, after Moreau was killed when a piece of equipment broke off a fire truck at a house fire.

“It’s rare, but it does happen, so you have to be mindful of it," he said. 

“One thing is that being a volunteer, you’re always at risk of something happening. And you try your best to mitigate that,” Bunnell said. “It's tough being a volunteer. Any way you look at it. You get up at two o'clock in the morning, you’re out of bed and in your vehicle going, and you don’t know what you’re going to find, but you have to be prepared.”