Why we need to wear seat belts

These type of things can happen here.

Stroud firefighters shaken after crash
Catherine RodriguezPocono Record Writer
January 19, 2006
Three firefighters were injured Tuesday evening when their fire truck collided with a pickup truck that pulled into its path.The Stroud Township Fire Department was dispatched to a call of an automatic alarm at a residence in Blue Mountain Lake Estates at 5:35 p.m. The truck, a Pierce Pumper, had just exited the North Fifth Street fire station and was heading north at about 25 miles per hour with its lights and siren activated when a Ford F-150 driven by 37-year-old Patrick Trunzo of Stroudsburg pulled out of Shook Avenue intending to go south on North Fifth Street.Trunzo stopped in the northbound lane in the path of the pumper and then accelerated into the south lane just as the pumper swerved to avoid the pickup, hitting the Ford and shearing off a utility pole.


Stunned and shaken firefighters from Stroud Township responded to the scene and helped to strip the pumper so that it could be towed.Stroud Township Chief Dave Smalley said that it could have been much worse."The three guys on the truck are badly shaken up and bruised, but they're OK," he said. "This is something that all firefighters dread."The three injured firefighters — driver Lee Phillips, Rich Banks and Russ Daniels — were all taken to Pocono Medical Center for treatment of bruises. They were all released Tuesday night. Trunzo was arrested on DUI charges and also taken to Pocono Medical Center where he submitted to a blood-alcohol test. He was treated for minor injuries and released.Both the pickup and the fire truck were severely damaged and were towed from the scene. The pumper was stripped of its equipment before being towed and will be out of service for "an extended time," according to Smalley."The damage wasn't as bad as it looked," he said. "There was a lot of body damage. There is a question about the cab, though. It was pretty badly creased."The fire truck will be stored at the firehouse until arrangements are made for its repair. Most of the equipment that was taken off the pumper was put on the department's spare truck that was scheduled to be sold this year. It will be put into service until the battered pumper is back in service."But the truck isn't the main thing. It can be fixed," said Smalley. "What's important is that the guys are OK."