HPD: Harrison firefighter injured after HFD tiller truck is struck by dump truck

Photo by Skyler J. Whitehead. A look at the damaged Harrison tiller truck.

A Harrison firefighter was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries when he was injured as a dump truck struck the tiller truck he was sitting in near the PSE&G property on Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard South, Lt. David Doyle told The Observer today.

Here’s how it all went down, according to Doyle:

The Harrison Fire Department responded to an “odor of gas” call with its ladder truck at approximately 2:30 p.m., Friday, July 6, 2018, at the PSE&G property. They stopped in the southbound lane with emergency lights flashing. While clearing the scene and returning to the truck, a dump truck with a partial load was traveling south and struck the rear of the fire truck, causing damage to both vehicles.

Photo by Skyler J. Whitehead. A look at the damaged Harrison tiller truck.

One fireman was returning to the seat in the tiller (rear driving compartment — see image with this story for a file photo of the tiller truck) when the collision occurred. He was thrown from the truck at that time.  He was transported to the hospital, but his injuries are not life-threatening. The driver of the dump truck claimed his brakes failed and he veered to the left to attempt to avoid the fire truck at the last moment.

The HFD reports, via its Facebook page, the firefighter’s injuries were “minor,” and he is “home safe with his family this evening.”

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Accident Investigation Unit was contacted and is assisting the HPD with the investigation.

Please check back for updates. We’ll post them as they become available.

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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.