Phoenix FFs on Way to Fire When Fatal Crash Happened

Three Phoenix firefighters were on their way to a fire when their apparatus was involved in a fatal crash with a pickup truck over the weekend. 

According to details released by Phoenix police, the accident happened just after 9 a.m. Sunday as the apparatus, which had its lights and sirens on, was responding to a call when the accident happened, KPHO-TV reports. Witnesses told the TV station that a 1996 Ford Ranger turned in front of the apparatus, and the collision caused the apparatus to flip multiple times.

An infant boy and his parents were traveling in the pickup truck at the time, KTAR-TV reports. Kenneth Collins, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Dariana Serrano, 19, and Kenneth Collins Jr., 3 months old—not 6 months old, as officials originally said—died from their injuries later at the hospital.

The injured firefighters in the apparatus were taken to Banner University Medical Center, and their names have not been released. The extent of their injuries also was not revealed, but a bystander who helped at the scene said the firefighters were going in and out of consciousness once they were out of the apparatus.

"When they pulled them out, it looked like they had at least concussions, but very severe lacerations all over their head, and they were discombobulated," Deacon Bryan Root told KPHO. "The firemen immediately were getting emotional because they seemed to know what had happened to the people in the truck right away. They wanted to go help, but they were told just to lie there."

One of the firefighters was treated for his injuries and released later Sunday. The other two firefighters were being held overnight for observation, KTAR reports.

The accident is still under investigation, and it's not known if speed played a factor in the crash. Department policy allows Phoenix firefighters to travel 10 miles over the speed limit when responding to calls, according to KPHO.