Eight firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority's Santiago Hand Crew, who had been battling the airport blaze, were injured Thursday, six of them critically, after their vehicle crashed and overturned on State Route 241, authorities said.
The crash took place around 6:45 p.m. when the vehicle swerved to avoid a staircase on the freeway north of Portola Parkway in Irvine, California Highway Patrol spokesman Jeremy Tolen told OnScene.TV.
The eight passengers in the vehicle were evacuated by helicopter; half a dozen suffered serious injuries and two suffered moderate injuries, he added.
After a car in front of the fire truck moved to avoid the ladder, “the Orange County Fire Authority driver [vehicle] “The man also saw the ladder and swerved to avoid it, and ended up crashing into the guardrail on the right shoulder of the road,” Tolen said. “At that point, the fire truck overturned.”
According to an Orange County Fire Authority dispatcher, who declined to provide his name, both directions of the freeway were temporarily closed to allow helicopters to land and conduct evacuations. At about 8:35 p.m., the southbound lanes were reopened, the dispatcher said.
Tolen said he wanted to give “a reminder to people to secure their loads and not have loose ladders, as sometimes they can solve a tragedy like this.”
The Santiago crew involved in the crash was finishing a shift fighting the airport fire, Tolen said.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley called the firefighters “true, tough public servants” in a statement on X, and urged people to “keep them in their prayers.”
“They worked so hard to save lives and property for us. Now we must help save them,” he wrote. “Tonight’s accident is too tragic.”
In recent days, firefighters had been able to bring wildfires in Southern California under control thanks to cooler temperatures and increased humidity. OCFA had been battling the Airport Fire, which broke out Sept. 9 in Trabuco Canyon. The flames quickly spread across the Santa Ana Mountains and within days had burned tens of thousands of acres in Riverside and Orange counties.
Firefighters have gained ground against the blaze, which was 42% contained by Thursday evening.
He said crews had been able to increase containment lines and ease conditions for firefighters, who were able to work longer hours in colder temperatures.
