Fire trucks crash in Center City; 9 firefighters sent to hospitals

Two fire trucks responding to an alarm collided at a Center City intersection today, sending nine firfighter to hospitals.

The most seriously injured was the lieutenant on board Ladder 9, who was knocked unconscious and had to be extracted with the jaws of life after the crash at 8th and Lombard Streets, officials said.

The cause of the crash between the ladder truck and Squrt 43 is under investigation.

Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said none of the injuries appeared life threatening and that he had spoken to the hurt lieutenant at Jefferson University Hospital.

Ayers said the officer's first question was, "How's my guys?"

Firefighters also were taken to Pennsylvania Hospital and Hahnemann Hospitals for examination and treatment.

A woman who was in a flower shop that almost was hit by the ladder truck was shaken up and also was taken to a hospital for observation, Ayers said.

He said Ladder 9 and Squrt 43, both based at 21st and Market Streets, were returning from a call at 7th and Market Streets when they received a second call to respond to a fire at 22nd and Wharton Streets,

"Ladder 9 was west on Lombard Street and we have Squrt 43 travelling south on 8th Street," said Ayers.

At the scene, it appeared that the smaller Squrt truck sideswiped the ladder truck, which slammed into a into a utility pole, bashing in the passenger side of the vehicle and shattering the wooden pole.

The Squrt truck ran into the back of a parked car, which bumped into another car.

Residents said they heard sirens followed by a loud bang.

Ayers says based on radio and 911 calls about the crash "we understood immediately the severity of the accident."