MORGAN COUNTY, AL (WHNT) – Rain could be to blame for several accidents in the Tennessee Valley that happened during the recent rainstorm, but one is getting some extra attention. It involved a fire truck and a house. The fire truck slammed into a Morgan County home. It didn’t just drive into the house. The truck actually flipped a few times before coming to a stop inside a living room. The people who lived in the home were all right, but also a little ticked off.
Those whose job it is to put out fires usually have an idea of what they’ll see throughout their work day. The day for one crew at the Oden Ridge Fire Department turned out to be somewhat of a surprise.
“The speed and the weight of the vehicle, I just knew it had gone straight-forward into the house and gone all the way through it,” said Jim Nail.
Nail says a fire truck hit his Morgan County home.
“It did a 180 degree turn from down there to here and ended up there in the living room,” added Nail.
He says the truck flipped a few times before resting inside the living room.
No one was home at the time except for a pest control worker. Homeowner Rita Williamson found out about the crash from him.
“He called me and said don’t get upset. That is always a red flag that something bad has happened. He said a fire truck just went through your house,” said Williamson.
Williamson and her son rushed home to see it for themselves.
“I didn’t want to look, but it wasn’t as bad as what I imagined,” added Williamson.
“It actually was a surprise to know that it didn’t do as much damage when they told us how far it slid, and how many times it turned over and ended up in our house. We thought for sure we did not have a house,” added Nail.
The mother and son say they were told a 19-year-old was driving the truck.
“In my opinion, I do not think a 19-year-old is qualified to drive a fire truck to any circumstance as a call,” added Nail.
They also say officials told them there had been a number of false alarms and prank calls made by someone who stole a firefighter’s radio.
“It is sad. I am sure it was some kid. I do not know how they figured that this was funny making false calls like that because it’s not,” added Williamson.
WHNT NEWS 19 tried talking with officials at the Oden Ridge Fire Department about the accident. We wanted to find out how many people were in the truck and get their names to check on their medical conditions. The fire department told us, “no comment.”
WHNT NEWS 19 also asked about a radio being stolen, and fire officials said that was not true.
Copyright © 2011, WHNT-TV
Reprinted with Permission
