Orange County Fire Chief Provides Update on Condition of 8 Firefighters Injured in Crash on Freeway 241 in Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) — Eight Orange County firefighters remained hospitalized after being injured in a rollover accident on an Irvine freeway Thursday night while returning from the front lines of the airport fire.

Update on her condition is expected to be announced at a press conference at 10 a.m.

Six of the firefighters suffered serious injuries and two others suffered minor injuries when the fire truck struck a railing and overturned, authorities said.

The accident was apparently caused by a ladder that was on the roadway of Freeway 241. A vehicle in front of the fire truck swerved to avoid the ladder, and the vehicle also swerved, striking the guardrail on the right side and rolling over, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Seven of the injured firefighters were taken by ambulance and the eighth by helicopter to various hospitals in Orange County.

“These are the hardest things to deal with. It breaks my heart,” said OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy. “I know my team and all the other firefighters in OCFA and throughout the region and across the country … are praying for our members. We just ask that anyone who is listening to this please keep our firefighters in their thoughts and prayers.”

The accident occurred on 241 near the Tomato Springs toll booth in the Irvine area shortly before 7 p.m.

Such forest fire hand teams consist of 20 firefighters.

The crash site is west of the massive airport fire that has burned over 9,400 hectares of land since last week.

Firefighters were returning from a 12-hour shift battling the wildfire, the OCFA said.

Signage on the truck indicated that it was an Orange County Fire Department vehicle for Santiago emergency responders.

AIR7 was over the scene of the accident, where the truck was on its side and debris was scattered across the road.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident.