Waymo Car Blocks Dallas First Responders from Getting to Explosion
As Dallas first responders tried to reach a natural gas explosion and five-alarm fire that killed three people and injured five others, body camera footage showed an autonomous Waymo vehicle blocking their response.
According to Fox4News, Dallas County Precinct 5 Deputy Constable Jonathan Banda found the empty Waymo partially blocking the fire apparatuses route to the burning apartment building.
In the video, Banda can be heard trying to get the car to move because there was no driver.
"You’ve got to get out the way," he said. "Go forward. Go!"
After pressing a button for rider support, he talked to a Waymo employee, who told him the "system seems to be having a minor issue" before the vehicle was moved.
"If I can manually move it, I’ll move it," Banda told him. "Come on, man, we need you to move it."
The Waymo employee ultimately unlocked the vehicle, and Banda then got in and drove it to a safe location.
"I knew I had to clear the way for the firefighters coming in. I could hear the sirens coming in," Banda told FOX 4. "He released it to me and, at that point, another engine was coming down the street with the hoses they needed to deploy out there."
In a statement, Waymo credited the law enforcement officer for working with its employee.
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Ryan Baker
Associate Editor
Ryan Baker is a writer and associate editor with prior experiences in online and print production. Ryan is an associate editor for Firehouse with a master's degree in sciences of communication from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He recently completed a year of teaching Intro to Public Speaking at UW-Whitewater, as part of his graduate program. Ryan acquired his bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023 from UW-Whitewater, and operates currently out of Minneapolis, MN. Baker, also writes freelances for the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) in his free time, while also umpiring baseball for various ages across the Twin Cities Metro Area.