Eight firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority’s Santiago fire team battling the airport blaze were injured Thursday – six of them seriously – after their vehicle crashed and overturned on State Route 241, authorities said.
The crash happened 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 spokesman Jeremy Tolen told OnScene.TV.
The eight passengers in the vehicle were evacuated by helicopter, half a dozen of them suffering serious injuries and two moderate injuries, he added.
Aerial footage of the crash scene released by local media showed debris and debris, including a dented metal ladder, strewn across the road.
After a car in front of the fire engine swerved to avoid the ladder, “the Orange County Fire Authority driver [vehicle] “I saw the ladder and swerved to avoid it, and ended up hitting the guardrail on the right shoulder of the road,” Tolen said. “At that point, the fire truck overturned.”
Both directions of the highway were temporarily closed to allow helicopters to land and conduct evacuations, according to an Orange County Fire Authority dispatcher who declined to be identified. By about 8:35 p.m., the southbound lanes were reopened, the dispatcher said.
Tolen said he wanted to “remind people to secure their loads, make sure they don’t have loose ladders, because sometimes they can result in a tragedy like this.”
The Santiago team involved in the crash was completing a mission to fight the airport fire, Tolen said.
Orange County Executive Katrina Foley called 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 them rescue their victims,” she wrote. “Tonight’s accident is too tragic.”
In recent days, firefighters have been able to control wildfires in Southern California thanks to cooler temperatures and increased humidity. OCFA battled the Airport Fire, which erupted Sept. 9 in Trabuco Canyon. The flames quickly swept through the Santa Ana Mountains. Within days, they had charred tens of thousands of acres in Riverside and Orange counties.
Firefighters have made progress in fighting the blaze. As of Thursday evening, it was 42% under control.
He said crews were able to increase containment lines and ease conditions for firefighters, who could work longer hours in cooler temperatures.
