Fla. rescue personnel rush to help 4 of their own

A witness stays by their side after a fire truck crashes

By Bridget Murphy
Florida Times-Union

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — "I can hear them coming! I can hear your people coming!"

Sirens wailed in the distance as a 27-year-old Jacksonville woman was the first person to the side of a firefighter crumpled beside Engine 51.

Wreck witness Danielle Kreethadamrongdet touched his hand, then leaned into the cab of the flipped pumper.

Dazed and bloodied, the three firefighters still inside nodded their heads as she spoke to them.

They understood. More of their own were on the way.

The Thursday morning rollover wreck at Philips Highway and Southside Boulevard left rookie firefighter Shawn Hall with multiple bone fractures.

It took colleagues about 40 minutes to carve the 27-year-old out of Engine 51 before rescuers airlifted him to Shands Jacksonville hospital. He was in serious condition there later Thursday, just a few weeks after starting his job.

The crash happened about 9:15 a.m. as authorities said the apparatus was rushing to a burning mobile home.

It also sent Engine 51 occupants fire Lt. Matthew Pferrer, 25, fire Engineer Michael Sparks, 29, and firefighter Matthew McAlister, 23, to hospitals with injuries authorities called minor.

Witnesses said the impact came after a truck carrying diesel fuel turned a corner at the same time Engine 51 passed through the intersection with its lights blinking and sirens blaring.

The fire engine hit the right front side of the A.J. Johns Inc. truck after Sparks swerved it to try to avoid a collision, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

After Sparks lost control, witnesses said the emergency vehicle slid toward the grassy median and rolled over up to four times.

"All you saw was a cloud of dust," said JoAnn Griffith, 51, who watched from her nearby work site.

James Edgemon was in the driveway of a service station getting ready to turn onto Philips Highway when the crash happened in front of him.

"I had my windows down and rubber and dust flew into my car and all over me," the 28-year-old said.

The man driving the A.J. Johns truck told the Times-Union that by the time he realized what was coming at him, there wasn't anything he could do.

"It scared the daylights out of me," 43-year-old John Patterson said at the scene. "I saw that truck go up on three wheels. I didn't hear it and when I heard it, it was too late."

FHP Lt. Bill Leeper said Patterson had a green light at the time of the crash. He also said the law requires emergency responders to slow in intersections as they travel through red lights for emergencies, while other drivers must pull over and yield.

Investigators haven't filed charges.

The 27-year-old woman who stopped to help said she was a passenger in a van behind the A.J. Johns truck. Two other fire trucks passed traffic on Southside Boulevard before Engine 51 headed into the intersection, according to Kreethadamrongdet.

She said Patterson, who authorities said wasn't hurt, tried to beat the fire engine through the intersection.

The crash clogged traffic in the area for about two hours before authorities reopened all the lanes. In the meantime, firefighters who listened to the rescue effort on department radios arrived in droves at the hospitals where their colleagues were recovering.

Department officials also dispatched fire chiefs to drive the wives of the injured men to their hospital bedsides.

Late Thursday afternoon, fire officials said Pferrer had gone home, but Sparks and McAlister remained hospitalized.

Fire union Local 122 President Randy Wyse said at least a dozen firefighters were at Shands when he arrived to check on Hall, whose wife and parents were with him.

"He was fine. Alert, conscious, oriented, talking," Wyse said after speaking to the rookie on a day he called tense for firefighters across the ranks.

A day when rescuers had to save some of their own.

"Their brothers were there in a split second," said Kreethadamrongdet. "... Like one big family."