Detroit Fire Commish Rebukes Firefighters for Parking on Train Tracks

The Detroit (MI) Fire Department Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack blasted firefighters after an apparatus was struck Monday, March 1, 2010, by a Chicago-bound Amtrak passenger train. The ladder truck had been parked on the railroad tracks, and one firefighter was injured in the crash when, after seeing the oncoming train, he ran back to try to move the rig. No serious injuries were reported on the train.

The firefighters were responding to a tractor trailer-vs.-car incident nearby. In his remarks, Mack bemoaned the damage to the $600,000 apparatus and stressed the need for firefighters to use “common sense.” The cause of the incident is under investigation; no one has yet been taken off duty. Read more about this incident from the Detroit News HERE. For more about the incident from the Detroit Free Press, visit HERE

For Fire Engineering articles on apparatus driving and more, visit our Apparatus section.

 

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