Copyright 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
By J.J. HUGGINS
Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)
FITCHBURG - Police have not filed any charges or citations related to a Sunday wreck that involved a fire engine, and Fire Chief Kevin Roy praised firefighters for the way they handled the situation.
The crash occurred at around 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Main and Academy Streets.
The city’s Fire Engine 3 was dispatched in response to a report of a man down at the intersection of Main and Mechanic Streets, when it collided with a 1995 Toyota, according to police.
“My guys have told me they had a green light and they were approaching with lights and sirens,” Roy said Monday morning.
“They saw the vehicle ... it cut right out in front of them,” the chief continued. “There was very little reaction time.”
Roy identified the driver of the 1988 fire engine, made by Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp., as firefighter William Burke, a 33-year veteran.
“He’s a very experienced driver,” Roy said, adding that the officer in charge of the truck, Capt. Paul Vaillancourt, was sitting in the front as well.
Roy said on Monday he did not have an estimate of the cost of damage to the truck. He noted it was previously scheduled to be refurbished this year.
Roy said the fire department’s vehicles have been involved in very few accidents like Sunday’s.
Rescue crews transported five people to local hospitals after the crash.
Police Capt. Paul C. Bozicas identified the driver of the Toyota as Marisol Cabrera, 33, of 51 West Elm St., Townsend.
He identified one of the other occupants as 17-year-old Bryon Irish, of 108 Day St.
Information regarding the other crash victims and their medical conditions was not available by press time.
Bozicas said Monday that Cabrera was trying to get out of the way of a police cruiser that was crossing Main Street, from Rollstone Street, and she ended up colliding with the fire engine.
Roy said none of his firefighters sustained serious injuries.
He said they immediately performed first aid on the people inside the Toyota, and another crew was dispatched for the man down.
Bozicas said a passerby initially reported a man lying on the ground only a block away from the site of the crash.
Bozicas said the man was never found, and the person likely got up and walked away before they arrived.