Nine members of the Klamath Hot Shots were returning from the Elephant fire on the Plumas National Forest in northern California on Saturday when one of their crew carrier vehicles was involved in an accident. Hot Shot crews usually travel with two crew carriers, each with 8-10 people, and one smaller vehicle, usually an SUV or a pickup.
From KHSLtv.com:
A U.S. Forest Service crew carrier rolled-over on Highway 99 East Saturday morning sending all nine firefighters on-board to the hospital. It happened just after 9 a.m. north of 66th Avenue.
CHP officers say the carrier was heading north on Highway 99 when a semi-truck heading south crossed into the other lane, side swipping the carrier. The driver of the carrier lost control and the vehicle overturned onto the shoulder and into an orchard.
Forest service officials say the carrier was transporting a hot shot crew back to base in the Klamath National Forest. The crew had just wrapped up fighting fires in Plumas County.
All nine firefighters on board were men ranging in age from 20 to 37 years old. They suffered minor head trauma and abrasions. One man fractured his pelvis.
The hot shot crew is a hand crew that travels all over the country. The crew was about two hours from home when their vehicle crashed.
A second crew of hot shots was travelling behind the van that crashed. They were not injured.
Eight firefighters have been released from the hospital. One remains at Enloe Medical Center with the fractured pelvis.
The driver of the semi-truck could face charges pending an investigation.
This is from ChicoER.com
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.
We wish them all a speedy recovery.
