Husband and wife volunteer firefighters injured as firetruck rolls over in Hunt County

Married Hunt County VFD firefighters injured in crash

South Hunt County Fire Rescue responded to a single vehicle crash involving a Quinlan Volunteer Fire Department vehicle.

QUINLAN, Texas - South Hunt County Fire Rescue responded to a single vehicle crash involving a Quinlan Volunteer Fire Department vehicle. 

Firetruck Rollover

What we know:

The crash happened just before 2 p.m. in the 7100 block of FM 36 S, which is south of Greenville and east of Rockwall. Officials say the truck was responding to a fire call. There is a bend in the road and the firetruck rolled.

South Hunt County Fire personnel arrived on scene with Hunt County EMS and Hunt County Sheriff's Office. 

Two Quinlan volunteers were injured. The driver was a female who was taken to Medical City Plano hospital by helicopter. The other was a male passenger taken to a Greenville hospital by ambulance. 

FOX 4’s David Sentendrey spoke with the Quinlan Volunteer Fire Chief moments ago, who says the two firefighters injured are husband and wife.

Texas DPS tells FOX 4 that both firefighters have non-life-threatening injuries. 

Skid marks highlight where the truck lost control, before veering left, smashing into a tree in someone’s front yard.

What they're saying:

All firefighters here are volunteers, and they don’t get paid. The chief says he was working his main job when the passenger in the fire truck called him for help. 

"So, like I said before, the truck is replaceable. We'll deal with that, but my firefighters are not, so that is my primary concern," said Volunteer Fire Chief Brian Collinsworth.

Collinsworth says the volunteer department is as tight-knit as can be. Peers like Deputy Chief David Smith were rattled from viewing the damage.

"We’re all praying for them, and hopefully it’ll be a speedy recovery," said Smith.

"From the pictures I’ve seen, it doesn’t look salvageable to me."

Local perspective:

Matthew McDaniel lives across the street from the wreck site.

"Honestly, I didn’t realize it was a fire truck at first. I thought it was an 18-wheeler," said McDaniel.

"I was getting ready for work and I don’t know, I just heard, like, just crashing, just outside. So I just went out there and looked and saw the fire truck, then ran over there."

People living near the wreck hope a crash like this never happens again.

"They were actually trying to crawl out of the truck as I was at the road," said McDaniel.

"There've been crashes over the years, like, pretty bad, if not worse than that one."

What we don't know:

Their conditions and their identities have not been released.

Texas DPS says it has not determined the speed at which the fire truck was traveling leading up to the crash.