Firetruck struck at I-19 accident scene – Arizona

A firetruck helping at a pair of accidents on Interstate 19 just north of Sahuarita was struck by a rubbernecking driver Thursday afternoon.

The Tohono O’odham Fire Department truck was parked on the side of northbound I-19 when another vehicle crashed into it around 2:35 p.m., said Tracy Koslowski, a spokeswoman for the Drexel Heights Fire District.

 

Drexel Heights and Department of Public Safety personnel were on the scene and assisting the Tohono O’odham Fire Department at the time of the accident about two miles north of Pima Mine Road.

Emergency personnel had been called out to a rollover accident that occurred in the same area around 2:15 p.m., Koslowski said.

 

The rollover happened when a woman driving northbound at high speed lost control of her vehicle and rolled it off the freeway, Koslowski said.

Three people were in the vehicle. The driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by Drexel Heights personnel to a hospital, while the passengers refused treatment, Koslowski said.

 

A two-vehicle collision occurred immediately behind the rollover after one vehicle rear-ended another whose driver was reacting to the rollover up ahead, Koslowski said. The five combined occupants of those two vehicles refused medical treatment, Koslowski said.

 

The driver who hit the firetruck was looking at the previous accident scene, Koslowski said. No firefighters were injured, though Koslowski said the firetruck was taken out of service because of the damage it incurred.

No other information was available Thursday, a DPS official said via e-mail. Tohono O’odham officials could not be reached.