A Magnolia Fire Truck was northbound on FM 1774 when a southbound motorist turned left in front of them onto FM 149. The truck was not running emergency traffic when it struck the female driver. The impact drove the truck through the intersection striking the concrete base of the traffic signal pole, shattering the concrete base, and crushing the bottom of the pole. The truck then continued on into the ditch striking a highway illumination light and then rolling over hitting a Centerpoint utility pole shearing it off. The pole-supported wires carry 38,000 volts of electricity. It was about 2:3-0 pm Thursday when a Magnolia Firefighter came over the radio asking dispatch to notify the chief they had been involved in a crash. He stated they were checking on the victim of the vehicle. With the calmness of his voice, it was thought a minor fender bender until he asked for an ambulance for the vehicle driver and one to transport the crew to the hospital. The first chief to arrive called for a rescue truck and reported the truck to be on its side. The right-seat officer was attempting to crawl out the windshield, the others were out. The female and all 4 firefighters were taken to Tomball Hospital. The female driver of the car was taken to surgery but was stable. Three of the crew members were just banged up, However, the Officer in the right front seat suffered a fracture to the hip/ pelvis and was being kept. All southbound lanes of FM 1774 were closed. Northbound drivers were put on FM 149. Local Goodson Loop was solid vehicles as motorists who knew the area tried to navigate around the scene. DPS investigated the crash. Precinct 5 Constables and MCSO assisted with traffic control. TXDOT responded to start repairs as did Centerpoint. It was after 8pm before Centerpoint was able to stabilize the pole so crews with Harshaw Wrecker and Range 3 Wrecker could start the recovery of the truck. Firefighters from other stations responded to assist in rolling thousands of feet of firehose from the truck. By about 10pm crew was able to set the severely damaged truck back on the road. The crew had been returning from the grocery store for to supply their evening meal after running a call. The groceries were in the back seat along with a dozen unbroken eggs. Crews will be working through the night to make repairs. One lane of FM 1774 southbound is open. Northbound are still being forced onto FM 149. Currently, right now firetrucks are in high demand. Large manufacturers such as Pierce are quoting over 800 days to build a truck. Many others are the same. Magnolia recently ordered three new pumpers from Spartan which will now need another one added. It could be a year on delivery,
7 фев 2024
