Fire truck driver passed out before crash
Cause of his blackout is unclear; 10 hurt in Wednesday’s wreck.
Lake Travis Fire Rescue engineer William Tatsch was driving a fire truck Wednesday in western Travis County when he blacked out.
The 17-year veteran of the department had been heading south on RM 620 north of Comanche Trail when he suffered an unknown medical emergency and lost consciousness. The truck veered into the northbound lanes of traffic, striking five vehicles in a fiery crash that shut down the highway late into the evening. Ten people were injured in the colli- sion, including Tatsch and three other Lake Travis firefighters.
Tatsc h, 49, w as alert and responsive Thursday morning but had no recollection of what happened before or after the crash, said Lake Travis Fire Fighters Association spokesman Braden Frame.
“There were no warning signs the morning of ” the accident,
Frame said Thursday outside St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center. “This is completely an accident that occurred out of the blue.”
He said Tatsch is undergoing a series of tests, but results have come back normal so far, giving no indication of what caused him to lose consciousness. He will remain in the hospital through Friday.
“As of right now, the cause of the medical emergency remains a mystery,” Frame said.
The three other firefighters who were injured were released from the hospital Wednesday night.
Lt. Rachel Zambrano, a 19-year veteran, was in the passenger seat when the crash happened. She suffered a concussion and required stitches in her head. Fire officials said she faces a long recovery.
Firefighters Brian Baker and Joel Niemeyer, both 11-year veterans, were treated for minor injuries. The two men ignored their own wounds Wednesday afternoon to help other people injured the crash. The seasoned firefighters can be heard in a 911 recording telling dispatchers in an even tone what had happened on the road.
“We’ve been in a wreck,” one of them can be heard saying. “We need fire, EMS and STAR Flight. We rammed multiple vehicles off the road.”
In addition to the four firefighters, six people were taken to area hospitals, including one driver who was airlifted to Dell Seton Medical Center with serious injuries. Two other people refused treatment, Texas Department of Public Safety officials said.
“We send our heartfelt thoughts and best wishes for them to have a speedy recovery,” Frame said.
Tatsch has never had any kind of medical issue in the almost two decades he has worked for Lake Travis Fire Rescue, officials said. Like all firefighters who work for the department, he undergoes an annual fitness evaluation that includes a physical exam, lab tests, a cardiac stress test and an electrocardiogram. In his last evaluation, he had been given a clean bill of health.
Frame called Tatsch “one of the nicest people I know” and called the blackout “really concerning.”
Lake Travis Fire Rescue and the DPS are still investigating the crash, which was the second one involving a Lake Travis Fire Rescue truck this year.
A few weeks ago, a suspected drunken driver struck a different engine on Hudson Bend Road. The engineer swerved to avoid being hit head-on, Frame said.
“Outside of that, though, we are very fortunate,” he said. “For a busy fire department who runs thousands of calls, we do not see collisions like this. We have not had anything this major.”
All four firefighters involved in Wednesday’s crash remain off duty. Operations will continue as normal at the fire department, which has 75 staff members.
“Regardless of how long it takes these four firefighters to return to full duty, full strength and come back to work, every day the citizens can rest assured that the Lake Travis firefighters will be ready to answer the call,” Frame said. “We are prepared to risk our lives and do whatever it takes to provide public safety.”