Eight Orange County Fire Department firefighters from Santiago battling a blaze at an airport were injured Thursday, six of them critically, after their vehicle crashed and overturned on Interstate 241, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Jeremy Tolen told OnScene.TV that the crash happened around 6:45 p.m. when a car swerved to avoid a set of stairs on the highway north of Portola Parkway.
The eight passengers in the vehicle were evacuated by helicopter, half a dozen people were seriously injured and two moderately injured, he added.
“After the vehicle swerved in front of the fire truck to avoid the ladder, the Orange County Fire Department driver also saw the ladder, swerved to avoid it and struck the guard on the right shoulder of the road,” Tolen said. “At that point the fire truck overturned.”
Both directions of the highway were temporarily closed so helicopters could land and evacuate, according to an Orange County Fire Department dispatcher who asked not to be identified. The southbound lanes were reopened around 8:35 p.m., the dispatcher said.
Tolen said he wanted to “remind people to protect their luggage, to make sure they don’t have any loose ladders, because sometimes they can end up in a tragedy like this.”
The Santiago crew involved in the crash was finishing a shift fighting a fire at the airport, Tholen said.
Firefighters have battled wildfires in Southern California in recent days thanks to cooler temperatures and higher humidity. OCFA was battling an airport fire that broke out in Trabuco Canyon on Sept. 9. The fire soon reached the Santa Ana Mountains. Within days, it had burned tens of thousands of acres in Riverside and Orange counties.
Firefighters were able to put out the blaze. As of Thursday evening, it was 42%.
He said crews were able to increase containment lines and ease conditions for firefighters, who were able to work longer hours in colder temperatures.
