BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

30 People Injured as FDNY Truck Collides with City Bus in Brownsville, Brooklyn

By MIKE JACCARINO and JONATHAN LEMIRE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, December 16th 2008

An FDNY truck rushing to a car fire slammed into a city bus at a Brooklyn intersection on Tuesday, injuring 30 people in a wreck of twisted metal.

The Ladder 103 truck was racing north on Mother Gaston Blvd. in Brownsville when it crossed the path of the B15 bus, officials said.

The vehicles hit with such force that the bus, its windshield shattered and front end crushed, careened onto the sidewalk and into concrete barriers alongside an apartment building.

"It sounded like a crumpled beer can," said witness Danny Gooden, 23. "People coming out of the bus were scared to death."

"People were yelling out, 'My leg, my leg' or 'My head,'" Gooden said. "I was like, this stuff is crazy."

Though two of the six men on the FDNY rig were briefly pinned in their truck, the firefighters quickly scrambled to help the bus passengers.

"I heard the impact and it sounded like an explosion," said witness Carlos Rodriguez, 23. "The firefighters took out a torch and burned the door off so people could get out."

Two firefighters with concussions were treated at Kings County Hospital.

FDNY investigators said Ladder 103 had its lights and sirens on when it entered the intersection about 11 a.m., though it was not clear which vehicle had the right of way.

The 22 bus passengers, the driver, and a pedestrian hit by debris were examined at local hospitals. None was critically injured.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY


Victims are rushed to the hospital after a fire truck collided with an MTA bus in Brownsville, Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Taggart for The Daily News

[Hart Bus]

Mother Gaston Blvd f/ka Stone Avenue in Brownsville Brooklyn