You can hear the crunch of an out of control vehicle making impact followed by some moments of confusion and then screams for help from firefighter Kelly Morris. She was one of three fire team members injured in a roadside accident.
Fire crews were investigating a series of rain-related crashes on Highway 24 near the Wilder Road exit when a, "A third car hit the side of our fire engine and then actually rolled onto the embankment and hit three of our firefighters and also the person we were taking the report from," Chief Randy Bradley said.
Fire Captain Michael Rattery, and firefighters Kelly Morris and Stephen Rogness were rushed to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek with non-life threatening injuries.
Bradley says two of them are scheduled for surgery. He says a fourth victim, not a firefighter, suffered more serious injuries, "That person is actually in critical condition, he received the worst injuries of the four who were struck by the car and I believe he's in surgery right now."
The rollover was actually the third crash along Highway 24. Firefighters first responded to a single vehicle accident and parked their fire truck to shield them from traffic. A second vehicle hit the fire truck. Then, as firefighters were talking to that driver, an SUV hit the fire truck, flipping over and skidding into several people standing on the side of the road.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating all three crashes. No word yet on any possible citations.
