A firefighter remained hospitalized on Monday after two fire engines collided over the weekend on their way to a blaze in downtown Paterson, injuring eight, authorities said.
“While responding to a fire on Main Street, our Paterson firefighters were involved in a serious accident,” Mayor Andre Sayegh said in a statement. “Please pray for them and their families.”
The fire was reported about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a furniture store along the 100 block of Main Street. The blaze was under control after about 30 minutes and no serious injuries were reported from the fire.
While en route to the fire, two fire trucks collided at Broadway and Straight Streets, with one vehicle careening into the Golden Mango grocery store; the other crashed into a tree, according to abc7. You can view footage of the crash posted to YouTube here.
No injuries were reported inside the grocery store, store manager Riken Patel told abc7. He recalled panicked shoppers running from the scene as the wall crumbled and merchandise was thrown.
“We were shocked. We didn’t realize what was going on,” he said.
