Teen hits Cambridge Springs firetruck in weekend crash
ROCKDALE TOWNSHIP — A Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Department pumper truck sustained minor damage when a 17-year-old struck it in a crash over Memorial Day weekend, according to a report from Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville.
Neither the two drivers nor two passengers in the firetruck were injured in the crash, which took place Saturday at about 9:46 a.m. on Miller Station Road just south of Mackey Hill Road, according to the report.
When he saw a car coming fast around a curve toward the stopped firetruck he was driving, Chief Nathan Walczak had one thought on his mind.
'I was holding on, hoping they were going to stop in time, but they did not,' Walczak said, recalling the crash in a phone interview Thursday. 'It could've been way worse. Everyone got very lucky — nobody was hurt. That's the most important part.'
The crash occurred when the 17-year-old girl was traveling south on Miller Station Road and the firetruck, a 2013 Spartan Motors pumper, was stopped in the northbound lane, police reported. The girl, traveling at a high rate of speed, tried to navigate a right-hand curve in the roadway but crossed over into the northbound lane and struck the truck before she could stop.
Walczak said that Cambridge Springs firefighters had been on a training exercise with Rockdale Township staff members and were following their counterparts back to the Rockdale Township building, located near the intersection of Miller Station and Mackey Hill roads. As a Rockdale Township front loader was pulling into the township building, he saw the 17-year-old's car coming around the curve just north of where he was stopped.
The girl's 1999 Toyota Corolla sustained functional damage in the crash, according to police, who did not release the driver's name due to her age.
The fire truck sustained minor damage to its front bumper, Walczak said, and remains in service. In addition to Walczak, two other firefighters were riding in the truck, a 63-year-old man and a 28-year-old man. Both drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, according to police.
The crash was recorded by security cameras at the Rockdale Township building, according to police. After reviewing footage of the incident, police charged the 17-year-old driver with failure to drive on the right side of the roadway.
Walczak said it was the first time a department vehicle had been involved in a crash since he became chief in 2023.
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