California: Fire truck nearly struck by driver suspected of DUI
A Manteca Fire truck at the scene of an early morning Thanksgiving collision was nearly struck by a suspected drunken driver.
Firefighters had responded to a 1:10 a.m. Thursday accident at Yosemite and Powers avenues where drunken driving was suspected in an intersection collision between two sedans.
A Nissan sedan was left in the middle of the intersection while the force of the collision sent a sedan that had its airbag activated a dozen feet onto Fremont Avenue leaving extensive debris scattered in the intersection.
The fire truck — with its emergency lights — was nearly stuck shortly after 2 a.m. by a DUI driver on Yosemite Avenue who barely missed the vehicle, skirted around it and continued on his way. Manteca Police gave chase and arrested the driver.
While emergency crews were responding, an individual who was making sure westbound drivers would not enter the accident area where pieces of the vehicles, glass, and other items were strewn had to get out of a way of another vehicle that slammed on their brakes at the last second before noticing the disabled white Nissan whose driver had activated their emergency flashers and was partially in the travel lane. The intersection was also lit by a street light.
Motorists hitting fire engines either at accident or fire scenes or ones responding with sirens and red lights activated are rare but do happen.
Several years ago a motorist slammed into a Manteca Fire engine responding to an emergency as it was driving down West Yosemite Avenue east of Union Road. The fire engine sustained major damage in that collision and was out of commission for more then six months.
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