Firefighters in hospital after accident involving fire truck on highway in Southern California: “We have a tough road ahead of us”

Orange County firefighters were hospitalized Thursday night after their fire truck overturned and crashed on a Southern California highway as they returned from a 12-hour shift battling a devastating wildfire.

They came back from the front. the airport firea massive fire that has ravaged two counties when the Orange County Fire Department vehicle overturned on northbound State Route 241 at about 6:50 p.m. local time on Thursday, authorities said. The accident occurred in the Portola Springs area, 10 miles east of the city of Irvine.

“We have a tough road ahead of us,” said Brian Fennessey, chief of the Orange County Fire Department. “Many of the injured will have to remain in the hospital for quite some time.”

According to the California Highway Patrol, a ladder on the roadway caused the fire truck and another vehicle in front of it to swerve, causing the vehicle to collide with a nearby railing and overturn. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

One of the firefighters was flown by helicopter to a hospital, while paramedics took the others to local trauma centers, Fennessey said. Twelve ambulances and three helicopters were dispatched to the scene.

“As you can imagine, our teams are devastated,” Fennessey said during a press conference Friday morning. “You can imagine how traumatic it would be to see injured firefighters lying in the middle of the highway.”

Six firefighters suffered serious injuries. Two others were slightly injured and released from hospital on Thursday evening.

The current condition of the six firefighters in hospital ranges from “stable to critical,” he said, without providing further details about their injuries.

Dr. Humberto Sauri, head of the trauma department at Orange County Global Medical Center, said two of the injured firefighters were admitted to Santa Ana Hospital in critical condition the night before. Now, Sauri said, one of the men is in “critical but stable” condition, while the other firefighter is “still in very critical condition.”

“Our team is doing everything they can to continue to help them,” Sauri said, adding that hospital staff “have devoted all their resources to these guys.”

Two of the seriously injured firefighters were released on Friday afternoon.

The firefighters are all part of the Santiago Handcrew, a front-line force that works grueling shifts that sometimes last up to 24 hours. Fennessey said hand crews “tend to be younger, extremely physically fit and very well trained” because they have to enter “extremely steep, extremely inaccessible” terrain that even bulldozers and other machinery can't reach.

The crew has been battling the fire since it broke out at the airport on September 9.

“It is the most demanding task that can be assigned to a human being and our firefighters have worked non-stop to contain the airport fire,” he said, referring to the forest fire that Dozens of houses destroyed Thirteen firefighters and two other people were injured when the fire scorched tens of thousands of acres of land in Orange and Riverside counties.

“I think we're all still a little bit in shock as we stand here today,” said Fennessey, who met overnight with the families of the injured and their fellow firefighters who were pulled from the scene. “They're in a tough spot right now… they'll get the time they need.”

On the night of the crash, just hours after it happened, Fennessey told reporters that all families had been notified.

“We ask you to pray for our firefighters and their families,” he said at the time. “This is the beginning of a long road for many of these firefighters and our fire department.”

On Friday, the fire chief said he had confidence in the “resilience” of Orange County firefighters.

“This is devastating for me personally, devastating for all the firefighters here in Orange County,” Fennessey said. “We are heartbroken, we are devastated, but I have no doubt that the crews, firefighters, our professional staff – everyone involved – will support each other and we will be stronger for it.”

The road in the Portola Springs area remained closed overnight as crews cleared debris. Just after 5:30 a.m. Friday, all northbound lanes of SR-241 from Portola Parkway to SR-133 were reopened after CHP officials ordered a five-hour closure of the northbound lanes.

On Thursday evening, CHP officials said 12 firefighters were injured in the accident, but later said only eight were injured.

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To help injured firefighters in Orange County, visit the OC Professional Firefighters Association website.