8 firefighters injured as truck rolls over whereas coming back from wildfire in California, officers say

Eight firefighters have been injured when the hearth truck they have been driving in rolled over because it returned from battling the Airport Fireplace wildfire, one among a number of giant blazes raging in Southern California.

The automobile crashed whereas touring north at about 6:50 p.m. on State Route 241 close to Portola Parkway in Irvine, California, Orange County Fireplace Authority Chief Brian Fennessy mentioned. Different autos weren’t concerned with the crash, he added.

The injured have been taken to 4 totally different hospitals, Fennessy mentioned. Seven have been transported by ambulances and one was airlifted by helicopter from the scene, he added. Two of the injured have been in steady situation at Hoag Hospital Irvine and 6 have been taken to trauma facilities, he mentioned.

The firefighters, which he described as a “hand crew,” had simply wrapped up a 12-hour shift combating the wildfire, he mentioned.

“We’ll be right here for our firefighters, and we ask that you just pray for our firefighters and their households,” Fennessy mentioned throughout a press convention. “All of the households have been notified, and that is the start of a protracted highway for a lot of of these firefighters and our hearth division.”

The California Freeway Patrol informed ABC Information’ Los Angeles station KABC {that a} automobile driving in entrance of the truck swerved to keep away from hitting a ladder that was in one of many lanes, inflicting the hearth automobile to swerve, lose management and overturn after hitting the guard rail.