Massachusetts Fire Truck on EMS Call Collides With Car

Five people -- including a 10-year-old girl -- were seriously injured Sunday afternoon when a Fitchburg fire truck collided with a dark-green Toyota Camry at Main Street and Academy Street.

Three of the victims, one of whom was a 15-year-old boy, were flown by helicopter to Worcester and the other two went to HealthAlliance Hospital/Leominster.

None of the victims names were released as of press time.

Deputy Fire Chief Gary Testagrossa said Engine 3 was responding to a possible heart attack at Main Street and Mechanic Street when the accident occurred.

"They were going up Main Street, they came to the [Academy Street and Main Street] intersection and then Engine 3 hit the car, T-boned it, as it came through the intersection," Testagrossa said.

The accident, which was at about 2:30 p.m., shut down northbound Main Street traffic for over two hours.

Rescuers took a screaming 10-year-old girl out of the car and immediately put her into a waiting ambulance.

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to tear open the roof of the car and retrieve other victims.

Witnesses said the Camry was driving southbound on Main Street and drove across the northbound lane towards Academy Street when the fire truck struck it.

"They didn't give way, they just drove right through," Fitchburg resident Lisa Bulot said of the Camry. "It didn't have its brakes on or nothing."

But one witness said the driver of the Camry was not at fault because things happened so quickly.

"There wasn't much she could do, the fire truck was going so fast," said Ashby resident Dan Moriarty, who was stopped at the intersection of Academy and Main Streets going northbound.

"She didn't have enough time to react it was going so fast," he said.

A man wearing a Fitchburg Fire Department jacket sat across the street from a fire truck with damage to its front bumper and was being comforted by others.

Testagrossa said the engine operator's name was not being released at this time.

When asked if they had been witness to the accident, the man in the Fitchburg Fire Department jacket did not respond, and the two people beside him said they did not see anything.

The rear of the Camry rested against the fence in front of the Fitchburg Post Office, 881 Main St.

Mayor Dan H. Mylott was at the scene soon after the accident, speaking with emergency personnel.

Sgt. Glenn C. Fossa said Officer Paul M. McNamara would be in charge of reconstructing the accident.

Police took statements from one man, and a man and a woman, but all three declined to comment to the Sentinel & Enterprise.

"I just gave a witness report so I don't think it would be appropriate to talk to the press," one of the men said when asked about what he saw.

A state police cruiser helped block of northbound traffic on Main Street and direct it down Central Street.

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