Editor’s note: Reports from multiple sources say the van Ortega was driving rear-ended a car, sending it into the median on the interstate. The car then hit two fire trucks, before striking firefighters Chance Zobel and Larry Irvin while they were tending to the brush fire.
RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — The driver that Highway Patrol troopers say was responsible for a fatal accident that killed a firefighter and left another in critical condition Saturday has been charged.
Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol charged 34-year-old Neida Ortega of Sumter with driving too fast for conditions.
Sgt. Kelley Hughes said the investigation will continue, though troopers completed an accident reconstruction Saturday.
Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said Firefighter Chance Hyatt Zobel, 23, was killed Saturday as he responded to a brush fire at 2:15 p.m. near mile marker 81 on Interstate 20.
Another firefighter, Larry Irvin, was also injured in the crash, and remains stable in critical condition at the hospital.
Officials say emergency vehicles were parked on the inside lane on the eastbound side of I-20.
Troopers say two vehicles were approaching the scene from behind, when a van driven by Ortega collided with another driven by a person from North Carolina.
Jenkins said flags will continue to fly at half-staff at all fire stations.
He asked that the community to pray for the familes as well as the Columbia-Richland Fire Department.
Zobel became a firefighter in 2007 and was a three-year veteran of Engine Company 4 and worked out of the firehouse on Spears Creek Church Road.
Jenkins says Irvin has been with the Fire Department for more than three years and was with Engine Company 4 and also stationed at Spears Creek Church Road.
Republished with permission from WLTX.