A Fort Worth Fire Department engine was struck by a truck early Saturday while protecting an accident scene, according to a social media post from the department.
Two engines were dispatched to a single-car motor vehicle accident at the 287 interchange southeast of Downtown at about 3:30 a.m., the post said. One of the engines — Engine 14 — found the accident scene while circling back to the station after initially not finding it.
The driver parked the engine at a 45-degree angle to protect the scene downstream from the flow of traffic, officials said. Within seconds of the last firefighter stepping off, it was struck by a truck traveling northbound.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Engine 14 and the way it was parked to protect the incident scene saved the lives of our crew and the driver of the original crash,” the post said.
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Officials said the driver of the fire engine was not injured in the accident. The two occupants of the truck that hit the engine were trapped, but the on-scene crews removed them from the vehicle.
They were then transported to a local hospital, the post said. No firefighters were injured in the accident.
“We know how lucky our crews were last night,“ the post said. “And we plead with the public to do their part in keeping each other safe on our roadways.”