Michigan: Firefighters: ‘Slow down’ near crash scenes

We arrived on scene to be their blocker, just to protect them until our utility could get on scene, which is our dump truck with a trailer,” GRFD Lt. Matt Keusch explained. But as Keusch and his crew sat in their truck, which was angled across westbound I-196, some drivers still weren’t paying attention.

Equipment Operator Justin Holmes saw one vehicle headed straight for the rig, despite the flashing lights and chevron safety stripes painted on the back. Holmes told Keusch and the rest of the crew to brace themselves as he put the truck in gear to try to get out of the way. Still, the other vehicle caught the back of the rig.

The other driver wasn’t injured, and neither were any of the firefighters. Keusch got out of the truck and told him to pull ahead of the ladder for his own safety. Holmes reset the brake on the ladder truck.

“I get back in the cab and he yells, ‘We’re going to get hit again.’ Nothing we could do,” Keusch recalled.

A yellow Ford Focus hit the back of the rig, becoming pinned underneath it. A Grand Rapids man, his sister and three children were in the Ford.