Police are investigating a crash involving a Seattle fire engine and a ladder truck that sent eight firefighters to the hospital Sunday morning, damaged the storefront of a massage business and smashed the ladder truck so badly that it’s out of service.
Alice Kim, spokeswoman for the Seattle Fire Department, said the trucks were responding to an automatic fire alarm when the crash occurred just before 8 a.m., at Northeast 65th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast.
The firefighters were taken to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation but were later released with no serious injuries, officials said.
The crash shut down the intersection much of the morning.
Traffic-collision investigators from the Seattle Police Department were assessing the crash, said Detective Mark Jamieson. He said the engine truck was traveling east on 65th and the ladder truck was going north on 12th when the collision occurred. He said it wasn’t immediately clear how fast the trucks were traveling.
Kim said the Fire Department will also conduct an internal investigation.
The community will be covered by reserve fire engines and staff for now, Kim said.
The business, Elements Massage, was to open midafternoon, said Larry Culp, owner of the Seattle franchise. He said the damage was “cosmetic,” affecting the overhang that the business’s sign is attached to and some lighting.
“The fire engine came to rest 6 inches from an expensive planter and could have gone right through the front of the building,” Culp said.
Normally, employees’ cars would have been in the lot where the firetruck careened through, he said. But the usual 9 a.m. opening was delayed because of the holiday.
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