Tailgater Cripples Pumper On Highway

ON I-93 IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WEDNESDAY, A TILTON-NORTHFIELD FIRE DEPARTMENT pumper was severely damaged when a car drove right into the back of the engine.

Fosters photo

The department’s first-line engine was responding to a highway medical call and traveling with its lights and siren activated when the driver slowed down to turn into the emergency vehicle crossover. At that point, a 2008 Dodge driven by a Kansas City, Missouri man crashed into the rear of the pumper.

Fire Chief Stephen Carrier said (the engine driver) told him the impact “sounded like an explosion” and gave him a “pretty good jolt” but he did not lose control of the fire truck. The engine is out of service and Carrier said insurance investigators will determine whether or not it is repairable. He said there is some concern that the frame may be bent. The E-One pumper was purchased less than two years ago for $310,000.

The car’s driver, who was unhurt, was charged by State Police with negligent driving.

Fosters