A speeding driver crashed into a Milwaukee fire truck on Wednesday, taking it out of service and delaying the crew’s response to an emergency call, according to Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.
The crash happened at S. 26th Street and W. Oklahoma Avenue Wednesday around 1 p.m. Chief Lipski explained that the car was speeding and drove through the bike lane — bypassing other vehicles that were yielding. The fire engine was operating with lights and sirens.
“A car came at an excessive rate of speed in the curb lane, blew past all the other vehicles that were yielding, and put a tremendous amount of people at risk,” Lipski said.
Lipski said the crash heavily damaged the part of the engine that pulls water from fire hydrants, so the rig is out of service for the foreseeable future. Another engine from a more distant station had to respond, delaying the emergency response by at least three to five minutes.
“They have to be replaced, and so the people on the other end of that call have to wait longer,” Lipski said.
Fortunately, the firefighters involved were unharmed, but police said the driver of the speeding car was taken to the hospital for nonfatal injuries. Milwaukee police told WISN 12 News that the driver will be cited.
Chief Lipski said avoiding reckless driving is a daily occurrence for firefighters in Milwaukee — so much so that his department has changed response protocols.
“We don’t respond to certain calls with lights and sirens anymore. Those would be, again, lower-grade calls, service-type calls,” he said.
He emphasized the need for drivers to prioritize safety.
“At some point, people have got to care about their own survival enough to stop driving this way. And if they don’t care about their own survival, they certainly aren’t going to stop and care about anybody else’s,” Lipski said.
Chief Lipski could not estimate the repair costs for the damaged fire engine.
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Milwaukee fire chief addresses reckless driving after fire truck crash
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