Fire Chief, 6 Others Hurt When Fire Dept. SUV Hit On Way To Fire
UPDATED 03/29/12 2:23 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago Fire Department official responding to a call Wednesday night ended up needing help himself.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, the paramedic field chief had been upgraded to fair condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn Thursday morning. He had been reported in serious to critical condition.
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He was injured when another vehicle slammed into his sport-utility vehicle, causing it to roll over.
A Fire Department representative said the chief took a major hit, but will recover.
A Fire Department spokesman said a paramedic field chief was responding to a fire at 92nd Street and Greenwood Avenue about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday, driving a Fire Department SUV. The vehicle had its lights flashing and its sirens wailing as it approached the intersection of 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
He said several cars in each direction on 95th Street had stopped, despite a green light, to let the fire SUV pass. Despite that, a motorist driving a Dodge Caravan passed the line of cars on the right, and shot from the curb lane into the intersection, where it T-boned the EMS vehicle.
Langford said the EMS vehicle then rolled into two stopped cars.
In addition to the field chief, four other people were also injured in the crash. Two were taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital in fair to serious condition, and two others were taken to South Shore Hospital, also in fair to serious condition.
Langford said the accident easily could have been avoided. He said if a line of cars remains stopped despite a green light at an intersection, there's probably a reason, and to look, listen, stop – and live.
A 42-year-old driver who broadsided the fire vehicle, Nicole Chaparro, was cited for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, police told the Sun-Times Media Wire reported.
