Eight firefighters with the Orange County Fire Authority’s Santiago hand crew, who had been fighting the Airport fire, were injured Thursday — six of them seriously — after their vehicle crashed and flipped on State Route 241, officials said.
The crash took place at around 6:45 p.m. when the vehicle swerved to avoid a ladder on the freeway just north of Portola Parkway in Irvine, California Highway Patrol spokesperson Jeremy Tolen told OnScene.TV.
All eight passengers in the vehicle were evacuated by helicopters, with half a dozen sustaining severe injuries and two sustaining moderate injuries, he added.
Aerial footage of the crash scene from local news showed wreckage and debris, including a battered metal ladder, strewn across the road.
After a car in front of the firefighting vehicle moved to avoid the ladder, “the driver of the Orange County Fire Authority [vehicle] saw the ladder as well and swerved to avoid it, and wound up striking the guardrail on the right shoulder of road,” said Tolen. “At this point, the fire vehicle overturned.”
Both directions of the freeway were temporarily closed to allow helicopters to land and perform evacuations, according to a dispatcher for the Orange County Fire Authority who declined to provide their name. At around 8:35 p.m., the southbound lanes were reopened, the dispatcher said.
Tolen said he wanted to give “a reminder for people to secure their loads, make sure they don’t have loose ladders as sometimes they can resolve in a tragedy like this.”
The Santiago hand crew involved in the wreck had been ending a shift fighting the Airport fire, Tolen said.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley called the firefighters “tough, true public servants,” in a statement on X, and urged people to “keep them in your prayers.”
“They worked so hard to save lives and property for us. Now we must help save them,” she wrote. “The accident tonight is too tragic.”
Firefighters in recent days had been getting a handle on Southern California wildfires thanks to cooler temperatures and rising humidity. The OCFA had been battling the Airport fire, which exploded on Sept. 9 in Trabuco Canyon. Flames quickly raced up the Santa Ana Mountains. Within days, it had charred tens of thousands of acres in Riverside and Orange counties.
Firefighters have gained ground against the blaze. As of Thursday night, it was 42% contained.
He said crews had been able to increase containment lines and eased conditions for firefighters, who could work longer hours in the cooler temperatures.
