San Diego firefighter injured in accident released from hospital

A San Diego Fire-Rescue Department captain — one of three firefighters injured in an accident early Sunday while heading to hurricane relief with a 48-member team — was released from a Louisiana hospital on Tuesday, officials said Officer.

Captain Greg Davies was injured in the crash on Interstate 20 in East Texas when the Ford F-350 he was riding in, a fire and rescue vehicle, was involved in a collision with a civilian vehicle. They were heading to North Carolina as part of Urban Search & Rescue California Task Force 8.

The other two who were injured and remain hospitalized are Battalion Chief Adjutant Barbat and Capt. Jesse Shultz. The families have requested privacy and asked not to release medical information to the media at this time, a department spokesman said.

After the crash, which occurred around 2:45 a.m. in East Texas, the three were flown by rescue helicopter to a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. The rest of the team has been staying in hotels in the area since the crash.

On Sunday, Deputy Fire Chief Jim Gaboury told reporters the three were reported in “various conditions from moderate to critical.”

Davies joined the fire department in 2009 and has been a member of California Task Force 8 since 2017. He is the planning team leader and is responsible for developing and implementing the task force's tactical plans.

Details about what led to the crash have not been released. The closest city to the crash site is Waskom, Texas.

The trio was traveling as part of a team that included firefighters from multiple agencies, emergency medical technicians, a civil engineer and an on-duty mechanic. They left San Diego on Friday to support rescue and relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Helene.

There were 18 vehicles on duty with the team as it conducted water rescue and other assistance in Charlotte, North Carolina

Officials said a decision will be made soon, in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on whether the remaining team members should return to San Diego or continue their mission.

The department sent chaplains, crisis response dogs and peer support staff to Louisiana and Texas to help team members after the crash. Fire Chief Robert Logan also flew out and visited firefighters in Louisiana and Texas.

The department said it also has chaplains and peer counselors available in San Diego to support the department's firefighters and employees following the crash.

The firefighters union said an account has been set up to support the three injured firefighters and has raised more than $40,000. According to a campaign website, the donated funds will go to the nonprofit Firefighter Aid to distribute to families.