Eight firefighters were injured Thursday in a serious highway crash involving a fire truck in Southern California, authorities said.
Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority said the truck overturned on California State Route 241 just north of Portola Hills.
The vehicle was transporting a ground crew after a 12-hour shift fighting a massive wildfire in Orange County known as the Airport Fire.
A ladder in the road caused the truck to swerve, hit a guardrail and overturn, Fennessy said.
At least one firefighter was flown by helicopter while others were transported by ambulance to hospital.
“All of our crews that were involved are undergoing a formal critical incident stress debriefing at our headquarters right now,” Fennessy said. “You can only imagine how traumatic it is for their brother and sister firefighter to see them hurt like that on the highway.”