A Shawnee fire truck is heavily damaged after a car crashed through a garage door at the John B. Glaser Fire Station, 6501 Quivira Road, early Thursday morning.
Shawnee Deputy Fire Chief Corey Sands says that one of the station’s two fire crews was out on an emergency medical call around midnight, when the second fire crew back at the station awoke to a loud sound and found a car had crashed through a garage door and into the front of their parked truck.
Firefighters went to work extricating the injured driver from his heavily damaged car. Sands says the man was alert and talking at the scene.
Johnson County Med-Act transported the man to Overland Park Regional Medical Center with what Sands described as “serious injuries.”
Emergency call, then a crash
Authorities say the car that crashed into the Glaser fire station was driven by a man who came from an address to which another fire crew had responded on an emergency medical call. Photo credit Mike Frizzell.
Recorded radio traffic states that firefighters were dispatched for a potentially life-threatening medical emergency at a house near 55th Street and Flint Street at 11:55 p.m.
As police, firefighters and paramedics were responding, the man they were responding to help left the house in a vehicle.
An officer spotted the speeding car seconds later southbound on Quivira Road. The car failed to yield for the officer and ran a red light at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Quivira Road.
Radio traffic indicates officers were not in pursuit and had lost sight of the car when it turned eastbound onto 65th Street. As officers made the same turn, they saw the vehicle had crashed into the fire station.
“There is some significant damage to not only the building but the truck itself,” Sands said at the scene. “Until we get a mechanic to take a look at it we don’t know to total damage on that.”
Sands says one of the department’s reserve trucks was parked behind the next door and was not damaged in the crash.
“Our city is still protected; this reserve apparatus [truck] is going to be our lead out for a little while, and our fire crews are ready to respond to more emergencies,” Sands said.
Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler, who lives nearby, says she woke to the sounds of the crash and the sirens that followed.
“I’m truly thankful our police officers and firefighters are safe and were able to help the injured person quickly,” Distler said. “Shawnee is fortunate to have a well-maintained fleet that includes reserve fire trucks for unpredictable events like this one.”
Background on damaged Shawnee fire truck
The damaged apparatus was custom-built for the Shawnee Fire Department and went into frontline service on September 1, 2019. The tractor-drawn aerial, or tiller, came with a $1.2 million price tag.
Sands said more information about the events leading up to the crash might be available from Shawnee Police later Thursday morning.
Check back with this report for updates as they become available.
Mike Frizzell is a freelance crime and fire reporter who runs Operation 100 News and frequently reports and does photo assignments for the Post.
Source: https://shawneemissionpost.com/2022/09/29/shawnee-fire-truck-damaged-crash-178525/
