2 N.J. fire trucks collide

7 injured, 1 trapped in wreck

Jersey Journal

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. — Seven firefighters were injured and an apartment building was damaged when two North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue trucks collided yesterday afternoon at the intersection of 57th Street and Palisade Avenue in West New York, officials said.

A rescue truck and an engine collided while both were rushing to the same fire alarm around 4 p.m., said NHRFR Co-Director Jeff Welz. The impact of the crash forced the rescue vehicle onto the sidewalk and into an apartment building.

Welz said a captain was pinned in the rescue vehicle's cab and suffered the most serious injuries. It took rescuers approximately 15 minutes to pull him out.

The alarm the vehicles were responding to turned out to be a minor smoke incident, Welz said. The seven injured firefighters were taken to various hospitals, including Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, the Jersey City Medical Center and Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Welz said.

The names of the injured firefighters were not released, but two of them were released from Palisades Medical Center shortly after the crash, Welz said. The others were still undergoing treatment shortly after 6 p.m.

"We have other trucks and engines if we need to respond to any fires or emergencies," Welz said, "and we're still assessing the damage to the vehicles involved in the collision, and investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident."