CANADIAN FIREFIGHTERS ESCAPE BRUSH WITH DEATH

Emergency crews escaped death by mere inches when a car slammed into the rear end of a Mississauga firetruck parked at the side of Hwy. 401, police said yesterday. "He could have done a lot more damage and wiped out firefighters, police and Emergency Medical Services personnel," OPP Const. Dave Woodford said.

Woodford alleged alcohol was involved in the crash on the eastbound collector lanes near Renforth Rd. around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. DRIVER TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

Luckily, Woodford said, "all the firefighters were out of the truck" when the Chrysler Intrepid plowed into the right rear bumper of the pumper unit, which was parked behind a damaged vehicle.

The driver was taken to Sunnybrook hospital with serious injuries.

Another fire truck was parked in the express lanes after the second of two crashes caused by one vehicle on the same stretch of the freeway.

The driver faces charges of failing to remain after crashing into the first vehicle and a guardrail before he fled on foot across several lanes into an industrial area. He was caught by OPP and Peel Regional Police officers, Woodford said.

Before the second crash, Woodford said the fire crew had "set up appropriately to prevent another collision and they had their emergency lights flashing."

Mississauga Fire routinely dispatches a second truck to park behind the first response team as a "blocker" to protect crews and vehicles from being hit.

"You could see the red lights flashing from Dixie Rd., at least a kilometre away," Woodford said of the crash zone. "When a person has alcohol, their brain is affected and their perception is affected." Several police officers parked on highways during investigations or to assist motorists have been killed in Ontario by impaired drivers who, experts say, are often attracted to flashing red lights.

A re-enactment of such a fatal accident is shown on a current anti drunk-driving TV commercial. The province enacted the "move over law" three years ago requiring motorists to slow down and veer away from emergency vehicles stopped at the side of the road.