FAYETTEVILLE — Police cited a city employee and a motorist after a three-vehicle accident involving a fire truck and sewer truck at noon Tuesday on Crossover Road.
Two firefighters were sent to the hospital with minor injuries, one by ambulance and another by regular vehicle, said Sgt. Craig Stout, police spokesman. City officials said the damaged trucks will strain operations but not in any major way.
Janis Wallace, 56, of Fayetteville was driving north in the inside lane on Crossover Road near Lovers Lane when she remembered she left her stove on. She was on her way to a church event, she said.
“I was going to turn at some point, stop and call my friends and tell them I have to turn the beans off at the house,” Wallace said.
As she was slowing, Travis Grogan, 28, of Fayetteville couldn’t stop the city’s sewer truck in time and struck the rear, passenger corner of Wallace’s red Chevrolet Blazer. Her vehicle spun several times before colliding with a city ladder truck traveling south on Crossover.
“I thought there was a pile-up,” Wallace said. “That's what I kept thinking.”
Stout said Wallace was cited for failing to use her turn signal. Grogan was cited for following too close, he said.
Mauro Campos, battalion chief, said the ladder truck belonged to Station No. 3 on Happy Hollow Road.
“Right now it's going to have a dramatic impact on our response because it's a ladder truck,” Campos said.
The city has two other fire trucks with ladder capabilities and responses will be maintained with a backup truck, he said. He said it was too soon to tell the cost to repair the damaged compartments that contained extraction equipment.
David Jurgens, utilities director, said the sewer truck, which contains a water tank and hose, is used to clean out sewer lines with water pressure. Jurgens also said it was too soon for damage estimates.
The city has one similar truck and will be able to respond to any sewage emergency, he said.