Motueka fire truck rolls on way to job
Four firefighters were injured and their truck was ‘‘extensively damaged’’ after it crashed and rolled on the way to a job.
The Motueka Volunteer Fire Brigade were responding to a car crashing into a tree in Motueka Valley on Saturday night. They never made it to the scene.
Southern Fire Service shift manager Brent Dunn said the truck rolled on College St just after 11.30pm.
‘‘No other vehicles were involved, but the truck was extensively damaged. The NZ Fire Service will be conducting a full inquiry into the incident.’’
Acting fire region commander Paul Henderson said a team would be assembled today for that purpose. He said the cause of the accident and extent of the damage to the fire truck was unknown at this stage.
‘‘There will have to be a determination into whether it’s a writeoff. We have supplementary trucks in all our regions. Arrangements are in place to replace that truck straight away.’’
Four firefighters received minor injuries, with one transported to Nelson Hospital for ‘‘check-ups’’.
Henderson said that firefighter was released the same day with minor bruising.
Motueka fire chief Mike Riddell said all the injured firefighters were well.
Crews from Motueka and Richmond attended the fire truck crash. A crew from Ngatimoti, south of Motueka, responded to the original call-out. The car was damaged, but the driver was not trapped and sustained no injuries, Dunn said.
St John spokeswoman Rachel Lorimer confirmed they had attended the scene, but referred all further inquiries to the Fire Service.