By Kevin McCallum
The Press Democrat
NAPA COUNTY, Calif. — A Napa County fire engine rolled down an embankment on a winding rural road Saturday morning, destroying the engine and sending two volunteer firefighters to the hospital.
The accident occurred on Wooden Valley Road east of Napa around 11:30 a.m. after the two volunteers had been sent to a motorcycle accident in the area, said Capt. Joe Fletcher of the Napa County Fire Department.
The firefighters had been called back from the incident, possibly because rescuers from another agency arrived at the scene first, Fletcher said.
On the way back to the station, Engine 22 left the roadway and crashed about 100 feet down a steep embankment, Fletcher said.
“That engine is destroyed,” Fletcher said. “It rolled down the hill and bounced off some ancient trees. It’s mangled.”
The two volunteer firefighters were treated at the scene for minor injuries and transported to a local hospital for evaluation, Fletcher said. Both were wearing their seat belts, according to an email from another CalFire official.
Fletcher declined to identify either volunteer firefighter, one of whom was presumably the driver of the engine, citing federal and state patient privacy laws.
He said the Napa County Fire Department has both paid and volunteer firefighters, and it is common for the fully trained volunteers to be first to arrive at emergency scenes.
CHP Officer Vincent Pompliano said the engine’s right wheels left the road, the brakes locked and the engine crossed the roadway before plunging down the embankment.
He said he could not offer an explanation for why the engine’s wheels left the roadway. The two-lane road is of standard width, with 12-foot-wide lanes and 2-foot shoulders, he said.
Pompliano said he was not authorized to release the names of the driver and passenger because his superior officers had instructed him not to release the information.
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(c)2015 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)
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