Eight firefighters injured in collision
Eight firefighters injured in collision
23 August 2009
published by www.chicoer.com
USA — A crew of eight U.S. Forest Service firefighters suffered moderate to major injuries Saturday morning, after a semi truck collided with a wildland fire engine on Highway 99 near Lassen View Elementary School.
According to California Highway Patrol reports, Gary Russell Hall, 58, of Sacramento, was southbound on Highway 99 in a 2006 Freightliner at approximately 9:08 a.m. when he allowed the big rig to cross into the northbound lane of the highway for unknown reasons.
The mirror on Hall’s vehicle reportedly struck the windshield and front pillar of the northbound 2001 International firefighting vehicle, with the driver, 30-year-old Brian Janes of Klamath River losing control of the vehicle as a result of the collision. The fire engine reportedly spun counter-clockwise across traffic lanes before rolling into an orchard on the west side of the roadway.
Janes, along with Michael Viola, 27, Daniel Beall, 22, Geoffrey Phlean, 25, Scott Burghardt, 35, Trevor Johnson, 20 and Joel Berg, 22, all of Klamath River, were transported to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Red Bluff with moderate injuries.
Aaron Schuh, 27, of Klamath River suffered major injuries as a result of the collision and was transported to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
Hall was uninjured in the collision.
