IL Fire Department Down to Single Aerial after Crash

An Illinois fire department is down to one operational aerial following a crash over the weekend.

The incident involving a Decatur fire apparatus happened Sunday along Grand Avenue, WAND-TV reports. A car crashed into the rear passenger side of the vehicle, but no one was injured in the accident.

The Decatur Fire Department normally has four aerials in service. Even the remaining aerial in service has damage to its front from a car striking it in January.

"Now we are without our main ladder truck in the city for what's probably several, several months," Decatur Fire Chief Jeff Abbott told WAND.

The accident has caused fire officials to move the department's remaining apparatus to different stations. The loss of an aerial also comes during "a very busy year for fires," according to Abbott. To date, Decatur firefighters have responded to 155 fires, compared to 100 during the same span last year.

"We've overcome a lot of different adversities, whether it's call volumes during storms or couple of fires at the same time," Abbott told WAND. "However, it doesn't matter what we've got. ... We're still going to respond (and) we are still going to do the best that we can."