8 Southern California firefighters injured in highway crash

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Eight firefighters were injured Thursday in a serious freeway crash involving a fire truck in Southern California, authorities said.

Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said the truck overturned on California State Route 241, just north of Portola Hills.

The vehicle was carrying a ground crew after a 12-hour shift battling a massive wildfire in Orange County called The airport fireA ladder on the road caused the truck to swerve, hit a guardrail and overturn, Fennessy said.

At least one firefighter was airlifted by helicopter and others were taken by ambulance to hospitals.

“All of our crews involved are currently in the process of formal critical incident stress debriefing at our headquarters,” Fennessy said. “You can only imagine how traumatic it is for their brother and sister firefighters to see them injured like this on the highway.”