‘Near miss:’ Local fire department warning drivers after ladder truck hit while responding to crash

SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The South Strabane Township Department of Fire & Emergency Management put out a warning to motorists after a ladder truck responding to a crash on I-70 East was struck by a car on Saturday.

The initial crash involving an overturned camper and a pickup truck facing the opposite way in traffic happened at 8:26 p.m. on I-70 East.

The accident was found just after a blind bend with traffic passing by at a high rate of speed, officials said.

Truck 44, a ladder truck, responded to the scene and was put in a blocking position with warning lights activated to warn motorists early on of the crash, as well as to slow and funnel traffic to a single lane.

The South Strabane Township Department of Fire & Emergency Management said the firefighters inside Truck 44 weren’t able to get out of the vehicle because of the “atrocious driving behaviors of approaching traffic.”

The truck was then hit by a car going well over the posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour.

None of the firefighters inside of the truck were hurt but the driver of the car was taken to a hospital with injuries, officials said.

A short time after Truck 44 was hit, a firefighter placing flares on the shoulder of the road said he experienced a “near miss” after a car almost hit him while speeding. Officials said the drive didn’t slow down when they saw Pennsylvania State Police or the fire crew, then drove around the flares and into the protected accident zone.

Officials said this is the second accident that happened in the backlog of another accident in four days due to distracted motorists speeding.

The South Strabane Township Department of Fire & Emergency Management put out the following message in a press release:

• MOTORISTS need to wake up. Put your phone down, follow the speed limit, and MOVE OVER.
• LAWMAKERS need to authorize and fund PennDot to support local emergency services operating on accident scenes by providing sign trucks, blocking vehicles, and personnel.
• The MOVE OVER law in PA needs to be enforced on motorists that blatantly and continually show no regard for first responders, recovery workers, and construction crews.

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