Fire Engine Hits Car, 2 Women Hospitalized
(STMW) -- Two women were hospitalized when a fire engine responding to a call crashed into a car Monday afternoon downtown.
Fire Engine 13 was responding to a report of fire in a high-rise in the 200 block of North Wacker Drive when it collided with a car at Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway at 3:22 p.m., Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.
The engine was northbound on Columbus with lights and siren activated when a Nissan Sentra turned in front of it at Congress and the driver "froze," Langord said. All other cars had already stopped.
The engine struck the Nissan, which crashed into a parked Mercedes, Langord said. Both cars ended up on the sidewalk and emergency personnel needed to extricate two women from the Nissan.
Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, but were alert and talking, Langford said. The side airbags deployed in the car, possibly minimizing the impact.
No firefighters were injured in the crash and the high-rise fire turned out be "nothing major," Langford said.
Chicago Police are investigating.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
