Amtrak train headed to Ann Arbor involved in collision
An Amtrak train headed to Ann Arbor was involved in a collision in southwest Detroit this morning, several media outlets reported.
The train collided with a Detroit Fire Department ladder truck headed to a call.
WXYZ.com reports that Train 353 left the station in Pontiac this morning around 10:40 a.m. and was headed to Ann Arbor, then Chicago.
According to the Associated Press:
Authorities say an Amtrak train with at least 76 people aboard struck a fire truck that was stopped on the tracks in southwest Detroit, causing minor injuries to several people.
Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack says the $600,000 ladder truck was hit as the driver tried to move it Monday morning. He says the truck and a police car were there helping a family involved in an earlier crash.
Mack says a firefighter had minor injuries.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari in Chicago says 72 passengers and at least four crew members were aboard the train. He says several people sought treatment for minor injuries.
Magliari says buses are taking the westbound passengers to their stops.
More coverage:
- WXYZ.com: BREAKING: Amtrak Train, Fire Truck Collide
- Detroit Free Press: Amtrak train collides with Detroit fire truck; firefighter hurt
- WDIV: Developing: Train Hits Fire Truck
- Detroit News: Fire truck-train collision reported in Detroit
Comments
RoboLogic
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 12:02 p.m.
Parking on the tracks? What we have here is..... a serious lack of respect for dangerous machinery.
jcj
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 9:12 a.m.
Doesn't instill much confidence in either the Police dept or the fire dept in Detroit! Oh yea nobody had any confidence in them anyway! Glad my tax dollars don't go there! O yea we are helping them to waste more money aren't we?
trespass
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 7:10 a.m.
It looks like the truck got completely spun around and wrapped around a telephone pole. That must have been a pretty good wallop! Why is a ladder truck responding to an automobile accident? Parking on RR tracks, what was the driver thinking about? The policeman was no rocket scientist either since he apparently was parked on the tracks too. He shouldn't get off scott free either.
sbbuilder
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 7:06 a.m.
We need a ladder truck to help with someone who had a crash near some RR tracks? Must have been a really tall car.
ummsw
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 6:40 a.m.
Touche Rosie!!!
racerx
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 12:55 a.m.
From the aerial shot from WLS-Chicago, you can see the gate/guard that comes down to stop traffic at a train crossing. Not certain if there was a signal, but typically don't trains sound their horns at crossings anyway? Detroit can least afford to lose a piece of equipment like that from both a cost and saftey prospective. The employee should be fired. Plain and simple.
Captain Magnificent
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 12:19 a.m.
hey- leave the firemen alone. how were they supposed to know a train would come out of nowhere and run over their truck in that exact location? You people act as though you're able to predict the movements of a TRAIN... did you forget how large and unpredictable trains are?!?! get some common sense and leave our HEROES alone.
Rosie
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 6:22 p.m.
Training to teach people not to park on train tracks? I don't know how much money you would need to teach common sense, but either way it sounds too costly for Detroit. Can't they afford to hire people who have common sense? Although the result of this accident was not tragic I feel the person who parked the truck should receive some sort of consequence.
Craig Lounsbury
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 4:29 p.m.
"I'm going to make it known that this is not acceptable and we'll do some training." Yes by all means they should train the fire department not to park the fire truck on an active train track. If the Ann Arbor city council can reach in to one of their money buckets and pull out $465,000 I will be happy to do the training for Ann Arbor.;)
SemperFi
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 4:06 p.m.
This is from the Detroit News. A top fire department official minced no words in criticizing a firefighter who parked his truck on a set of train tracks while responding to an accident. "I'm very upset," said executive fire commissioner James Mack. "I'm going to make it known that this is not acceptable and we'll do some training."
John Hritz
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 3:17 p.m.
Still not clear why this is written as though the train had some responsibility here. The fire truck was parked on the tracks or failed to yield to the train.
Ignatz
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 3:03 p.m.
According to the WXYZ story, the emergency vehicles were on the scene because of an earlier collision between a car and a semi. Why were they parked on the tracks? Are the tracks painted to look like road surface in some way?
RuralMom
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 2 p.m.
Chanel 4 WDIV is reporting that both the fire truck and a police car where PARKED on the tracks while assisting another problem, only the Police Vehicle was moved in time. Either way it seems like DFD has a lot of accidents with their equipment.