Investigation Still Ongoing Into Cause

Update, Monday 9 am Eastern:  Victim identified, more info posted.  Scroll down.

A LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, WOMAN DIED SATURDAY night in the center of downtown when she was struck by a fire engine that was not on an emergency call.

The Lexington Fire Department says that Engine 9 was en route to a nearby hospital to pick up a firefighter that had accompanied an ambulance crew on a medical call.  The pumper collided with the unidentified pedestrian around 10:15 pm at Broadway and Main Streets.

Herald-Leader photo

The Lexington Herald-Leader in an early report states:

The truck appeared to have been driving southwest on Broadway; it was parked on Broadway between Main Street and High Street beside Triangle Park, inside an area cordoned off by police.

The woman's body was near the crosswalk across Broadway, though Willoby said Sunday morning it was too early to tell whether she was in the crosswalk when the wreck happened. It also was unclear which direction she was headed or who had the right of way, he said.

Police were reviewing surveillance camera footage in the area "to look and see exactly where she was."

As police continued investigating about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the woman's body remained on Broadway by the Christmas tree in Triangle Park, covered by a white sheet. Dozens of passersby leaving bars about 1 a.m. glanced curiously at the scene, some gasping.

Unofficially, some witnesses told reporters that it appeared that the woman had walked into the side of the fire engine.

Read the early report from the Herald-Leader HERE.

Update, Monday 9 am Eastern:

The victim has been identified as a woman from Washington, D. C., who was visiting Lexington to participate in a running competition.  The Herald-Leader has just posted additional information on the accident:

A downtown pedestrian who died late Saturday when she was struck by a Lexington fire truck was an attorney with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who was in town to compete in a cross-country running competition.

A report from the Fayette County coroner's office said the case was being investigated as an accident. According to police, Lauren Woodall Roady, 27, of Washington, D.C., died shortly after she was struck about 10:05 p.m. Saturday by the Lexington Division of Fire's Engine 9 at Broadway and West Main Street near Triangle Park. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said that the fire truck was on a non-emergency trip to pick up some crew members and that its siren and warning lights were not in operation when the accident occurred. "They were driving with traffic," police lieutenant Richard Willoby said.

According to the police report issued late Sunday, the fire truck was being driven by firefighter Christopher Presley and was making a left turn from West Main Street onto South Broadway when Roady was struck. That intersection is next to Triangle Park, not far from the city's outdoor skating rink and Christmas tree.

The police report said Roady was crossing Broadway from east to west when she was struck. Earlier Sunday, police said it wasn't clear whether she was in the crosswalk when the accident occurred. The police report doesn't say whether she was in the crosswalk.

The results of the investigation are not expected until after the first of the year.  Lauren Roady had been married just a little more than two months.

For more details read the updated story in the Herald-Journal HERE.

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