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Highway crash injures 8 Southern California firefighters

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Highway crash injures 8 Southern California firefighters
Authorities say eight firefighters have been injured in a severe highway crash involving a fire truck in Southern California. Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority says a ladder in the road caused the truck to swerve, strike a guard rail and overturn. (Screenshot from AP video)

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Eight firefighters were injured Thursday, Sept. 19, in a severe highway crash involving a fire truck in Southern California, authorities said.

Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority said the truck overturned on the California State Route 241 just north of Portola Hills.

The vehicle was transporting a ground crew after a 12-hour shift fighting a massive wildfire in Orange County called the Airport Fire. A ladder in the road caused the truck to swerve, strike a guard rail and overturn, Fennessy said.

At least one firefighter was flown by helicopter and others were transported by ambulance to hospitals.

“All of our crews that were involved are going through a formal critical incident stress debriefing at our headquarters right now,” Fennessy said. “You can only imagine how traumatic it is for their brother and sister firefighter to see them injured like that on the freeway.”

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The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. The Trucker Media Group is subscriber of The Associated Press has been granted the license to use this content on TheTrucker.com and The Trucker newspaper in accordance with its Content License Agreement with The Associated Press.
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