From The Detroit News
The city’s top fire official spared few words Monday when calling out firefighters who left on railroad tracks a ladder truck before it was struck by a passenger train.
“I’m very upset,” Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack said. “It was a $600,000 truck. We’re trained professionals. We should always be thinking.”
The fire truck was crushed by an Amtrak passenger train at about 11:40 a.m. Monday in southwest Detroit after firefighters responded to a crash between a tractor-trailer and a car near John Kronk and Lonyo. For reasons that are unclear, the fire truck was left on the tracks.
A firefighter saw the oncoming train and ran back to move the rig. He was in the truck when the train slammed into it. He suffered a gash to the head and was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital. No other firefighters were injured.
No serious injuries were reported aboard the train, though a female passenger was taken to a hospital after complaining of neck stiffness, fire officials and witnesses said.