COVINGTON, Va. – The Covington Fire Department is missing a fire truck from its fleet after it was hit by another truck on Wednesday. The department’s utility truck was hit by a tractor-trailer while they were on the scene of another accident.
“He hit the back of our truck. Thank God nobody was seriously hurt. And that caused a second accident. We already had another call going on at the time too,” said second assistant chief, Brad Hicks.
Hicks and second captain C.W. Smith were on the scene of the accident when the department’s utility truck was hit from behind.
“We heard our guy in the truck say, ‘Utility 20 has been hit, I’ve been hit,’” said Smith.
“I looked out and all I saw was a big cloud of smoke,” said Hicks.
The firefighter inside of the utility truck suffered a broken sternum but is expected to be ok.
“You know, you can replace your trucks, but you can’t replace your people,” said Hicks.
As for the truck, the department is still dealing with insurance companies. It’s unknown if they’ll fix this truck or have to buy a new one, which could cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“They’re very expensive,” said Hicks.
They hope this damaged truck will serve as a reminder to drivers to slow down when they see emergency vehicles, so something like this can be avoided.
“If they see red, white, blue, yellow lights they need to slow down and get over,” said Hicks.
Despite the department being down a truck, Hicks says it won’t stop them from serving their community.
“We’re gonna get by and still serve the people and do our best,” he said.