The tanker was built as a fire tanker (IIRC, by Four Guys) and originally served a department somewhere up north (IIRC, Michigan) and had been purchased used by Cypress Lakes less than a year ago.
The biggest thing was the lack of seatbelt use. We preach to our guys to wear their's and still I catch them ALL the time not wearing their seatbelt. Hopefully this accident will serve as a wake-up call. However, their are those that are claiming, rather erroneously, that he would have been hurt worse if he'd stayed in the cab. I was at the accident scene (I'm standing by the cab, talking on my cellphone, in the aerial video) and the survival space in the cab was excellent.
Clayton is very, very lucky. His recovery is progressing much better than expected and he might actually be home within the next week or two. Still, he has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
Thanks for the update. I hope he will have a full recovery.
We also preach (aka beat) it into our people, to wear their seatbelts, and it evidently is working. I haven't caught anyone not wearing theirs in many months.
I understand one third of fatal apparatus crashes involve tankers. But tankers make up less than 5% of the firefighting fleet. There's a lesson in these numbers.
Hope the young man injured in the accident at Tarkington Prairie makes a speedy recovery.
Especially challenging if it's the middle of the night and all you;ve driven recently is your Honda Civic. YOU NEED TO SLOW DOWN AND GET A GRIP , YOUR NO HELP IN THE DITCH.