Elderly Woman Dies In Collision With Fire Truck
DENVER (CBS4) - An 80-year-old woman has died after apparently driving in front of a fire truck that was rushing to a call.
The crash happened just before noon on Saturday at the intersection of Hampden and Yosemite in Denver. The firefighters were answering a call for help some 2 miles away.
The coroner's office identified the victim as Marlene Edwards of Denver. Based on an eyewitness it appears Edwards was in the wrong when she cut in front of the on-coming fire engine.
That fire engine was the last of four fire vehicles heading east on Hampden. Edwards was driving north on Yosemite, but instead of stopping before entering the intersection and yielding to the fire engine with lights and sirens going, she allegedly kept on going.
A man pumping gas in his car nearby saw the accident.
"The driver of Engine 22 was totally doing everything proper and not speeding, It was from my perspective it was inattentiveness on the part of the driver of the Hyundai," witness Curtis Kennedy said.
"Witness reports that the light was green for us when we went through that intersection, apparently that vehicle did not yield," Lt. Phil Champagne with Denver fire said.
"I was stunned and I was waiting and hoping the gas would quit pumping so I could go over there and help," Kennedy said.
Edwards said the firefighters on the fire engine immediately jumped out and worked to remove the woman from her car, but despite their efforts the woman died later at Swedish Medical Center.
