RICHMOND, Va. — Two firefighters suffered minor injuries Tuesday night when a tractor-trailer crashed into their fire engine while they were responding to a crash on Interstate 95 in Richmond.
"Our crew responded to 95 southbound for the report of a car accident, they'd built up a barrier with firetrucks, and during that scene while they were trying to administer help to the victims, an 18 wheeler came in between the two fire trucks we had staged rear-ended one of the firetrucks," Raymond Neville with the Richmond Fire Department said.
The crash highlights an ongoing safety concern for first responders working on Virginia highways.
"In this incident, there were cones and vehicles, and it was believed that maybe the driver thought the incident was over when he passed the first vehicle and try to step between the two and that's how he ended up rear ending that vehicle," Neville said.
"But the mental aspect of that, having that situation happen when they thought they were protected by the vehicle, the cones, the situational awareness that we expect out of the public, was violated," he added.
This is the third incident in recent months involving crashes with emergency vehicles on I-95 in the Richmond area. On June 11, a Chesterfield fire engine was struck while leaving an accident scene near Woods Edge Road. In January, another Chesterfield fire crew blocking a traffic accident between Route 10 and 288 was also hit.
While bad weather was a factor in the initial crash that Richmond firefighters were responding to, Neville emphasized that drivers need to be more cautious around emergency scenes regardless of conditions.
"It's just more of a reminder for everybody to get them reset on their thinking about accidents and the scenes that we operate on," Neville said.
"Just give us that chance to help somebody else. I know we're all in a hurry. As a society, we're late to meetings, we're late to practice. We're late to getting where we're going, but we're really need everyone to calm down, slow down when they do see those lights. It's 20 more minutes of their life, but they're not taking ours."
The tractor-trailer driver has been charged with reckless driving. The Richmond Fire Department is urging all drivers to slow down when approaching accident scenes to ensure everyone's safety.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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