Updated: Another video and photo added. Scroll down.
A DETROIT, MICHIGAN, LADDER TRUCK was parked on a railroad mainline Monday shortly before noon, while the fire company was washing down a gasoline spill from an auto wreck, when an AMTRAK passenger train plowed into it, demolishing the truck. Ladder 13 had been dispatched for the washdown and had been positioned on the tracks. When they realized that there was a train approaching, the driver tried to move the truck, but was not in time.
Detroit Free Press / Jackson photo
The train was traveling from Pontiac, Michigan, to Chicago and carrying just over 70 passengers with a crew of 4. There were no injuries on the train, but one firefighter suffered a gash on his head and required treatment at a hospital.
A visibly angered Fire Commissioner James Mack said, “I’m very upset. It was a $600,000 truck, we’re trained professionals. We should always be thinking. I don’t think the citizens of Detroit are pleased that he parked on the tracks. This was a disservice to the citizens. It’s their fire truck, they paid for it.”
There were also two police cruisers that had been thoughtlessly left on the tracks, but they were able to get them out of the way.
This photo by Daniel Jasina shows L-13′s 2003 Pierce Dash
waiting to be offloaded at DFD’s apparatus shops.
This video report from WJBK-TV Ch. 2 interviews some of the eyewitnesses:
Also on FireGeezer…
- Amtrak vs. Semi Leaves 2 Dead in Fiery Crash – June 25, 2011
- Detroit Hires New Fire Commissioner – May 21, 2011
- Block-Long Apartment Bldg. in Detroit Goes Down – September 17, 2011
- Industrial Fire in Detroit – January 26, 2011
