NEW YORK FIRE TRUCK HITS VAN IN FATAL STATEN ISLAND ACCIDENT

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Brooklyn Injury Lawyer)

On March 9, 2011 a New York City fire truck responding to an emergency call on Staten Island slammed into a van full of developmentally disabled adults, killing one occupant and sending two occupants to the hospital in critical condition, in a horrible accident.

A New York City Fire Department truck belonging to Ladder 81 that was racing to a call crashed into the van around 12:10 p.m. at the intersection of Richmond Road and Burgher Avenue.

The van, which was from an agency called Lifestyles for the Disabled, was carrying nine people between the ages of 20 to 50, and all the passengers had special needs, according to sources.

The van, owned by Willowbrook-based Lifestyles for the Disabled, was making a left turn off Burgher with the green light in its favor at the time of the acccident, said witnesses.

The fire truck smashed into the rear of the van's driver side with such force that it spun the vehicle around 180 degrees. Its tailgate smashed into a concrete wall and the van wound up facing down Burgher.

Fire and police officers at the scene said one person was ejected from the van and fatally injured, and that the jaws of life were used on another victim.

All nine people aboard the van were brought to Staten Island University Hospital, where the fatally injured person was pronounced dead.

Two of those patients are still in critical condition from the accident and four have been released, according to a SIUH official.

The fire truck crashed on its way to a car fire at Major Avenue and Lily Pond Avenue, near the Verrazano Bridge. The firefighters believed a person was trapped, but that report turned out to not be true.

The six firefighters in the truck suffered minor injuries but were able to get out and administer first aid to the people in the van, according to fire and police sources.

The firefighters were then taken to Richmond University Medical Center.

"I heard all the sirens, all the police, and I was wondering what was going on," said one local who overheard the commotion. "We couldn't get through for nothing. I thought maybe a bomb or some wall fell from there."

"I was just putting some stuff in the car, and I heard the fire truck going by me. I heard a huge bang, I looked up and I saw the van spinning around in circles," said another local. "The firemen jumped right out and started helping the people."

Officials would not comment on the accident, as it is still under investigation. Lifestyles for the Disabled has not said yet where the van was headed.

After the accident, several neighboring streets were closed off for hours and drivers were redirected to secondary roads.

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