Fireman loses legs: four others injured

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 1

Fireman loses legs: four others injured

PA Dunedin A senior Dunedin fireman had his legs amputated and four of his colleagues were injured when their Fire Service snorkel unit and a truck and trailer unit collided in central Dunedin yesterday. The accident happened at the intersection of St Andrews Street and Cumberland Street at 11.40 a.m. after the unit responded to an alarm at the Dunedin Telephone Exchange, which turned out to be false. The driver of the truck involved, Mr Alan Harris, was not injured. Most seriouslv injured was Senior Station Officer David Hynd, a veteran of 18 years service in the Fire Service at Dunedin. He lost both legs below the knee at the scene of the accident and his condition was last evening described as “stable but still serious.” The names of the other injured firemen, and their condition last evening are: Senior Fireman Rex Alexander, facial cuts and bruises, satisfactory; Fireman Cliff Trainor, facial

cuts and leg injuries, satisfactory: Fireman Murray South, seriously damaged knee cap, undergoing surgery late yesterday, condition unknown; and Fireman Bryan Joyce, scalp and spinal damage, serious. The intersection at which the accident happened is controlled by traffic lights, but it was unclear last evening which thoroughfare had the green signal at the time. Spokesmen for the Ministry of Transport, Hardings Signals, Ltd, (the traffic light maintenance company) and the Dunedin City Council’s traffic department confirmed that there had been no report of lights malfunction at the intersection before the accident. Both vehicles, the $190,000 snorkel unit and the truck, were tvrecked. Miraculously, Mr Harris was hauled out of the wreckage of his upended cab suffering only from shock. The Fire Service can control main route sets of traffic lights, and those at this intersection are among them.