Four firefighters and one civilian were involved in a morning fire apparatus crash. Engine 20 was responding to a reported residence fire with possible entrapment when the collision occurred. Engine 20 had cleared the intersection, proceeded and was halfway through when the rig collided with a pickup truck. The driver of the truck struck the engine’s midsection at the pump panel and pushed it side up onto two wheels. The engine slid through the eastbound lanes of the intersection where it hit a turn lane pole, several brick pillars, a wrought iron fence and a large pile of rocks. Before stopping, the rear end of the engine swung around and hit the traffic signal and sheared it off its base, which caused the traffic pole to fly completely up and over the engine, landing in the street. The combination of the brick pillars, fence, rocks, and the base of the pole puncturing the underside of the engine caused significant damage to the engine.
According to IMPD on scene, Family Video had placed the rocks and fencing in that space because of the number of collisions occurring at the intersection, subsequently landing cars in their parking lot. Thankfully the engine did not completely flip nor was anyone seriously hurt including the driver of the truck. The crews were shaken but grateful to be relatively unscathed. The driver of the truck was cooperative with IMPD investigators and released from the scene. Per standard protocol a Portable Breathalyzer Test (PBT) was administered on scene to the Engineer (driver) of Engine 20 which registered 0.0. The Engineer is a 22 year veteran of the IFD who has been the Engineer on Engine 20 C Shift for 14 years. This the first time he has been involved in an accident as the Engineer. Engine 20 is a 2010 Ferrara. Engine 20 is IFD’s 3rd busiest apparatus with 5,002 responses in 2017.
Incident writeup courtesy of Battalion Chief Rita L. Reith, Media Relations, Indianapolis (IN) Fire Department