Illinois: Rockford Firefighters urge incident awareness

Harsh weather can cause accidents for drivers, but it's also a risky situation for emergency responders. Last night at midnight, Rockford Firefighters responded to an accident on South Alpine and Grinnell Drive. While firefighters were treating the injured, a car drove into the scene, past traffic cones, and hit a fire truck that was being used to protect the ambulance with the injured inside.

Emergency personnel remind drivers to be extra alert during winter storms, not just for their own safety, but for emergency workers as well. "Any time you see any type of accident scene, the best thing to do is curb right, and to stop at that point and to take further precaution around that scene so as to avoid any further accident to us, to the victims on the scene, or to themselves as well," says Steve Rhoades, Rockford Fire Department truck Driver.

The firetruck that was struck has only minor damage, and Rhaodes remind us that even if the truck was unusable, they always have another engine to take its place. The injuries being treated were non life threatening.