HOUSTON (AP) -- Officials say eight firefighters and two other people have been taken to hospitals after two fire trucks collided while going through a Houston intersection.
Houston District Fire Chief Tommy Dowdy says one firefighter and a person on a bicycle suffered severe injuries.
The trucks had been responding to an emergency call. Fire department officials later determined the reported apartment fire was a false alarm.
It's too early to tell, but it seems that someone screwed up big time. Besides not getting to the call they were dispatched to, the Department is now down two pieces of very expensive equipment and 9 firefighters. That does not include the civilian that is in the hospital in critical condition. Opticom or not one of the operators busted a red light without due concern for anyone else on the road. When are our personnel going to understand that no structure is worth a life or injury, and even if the caller states that there may be persons trapped you still have to get there to attempt any type of rescue. Not that I don't feel for the injured personnel, because I do, but lets get real and start pushing the message that our drivers need to slow down and use their brains when responding.