OUI cited in Provincetown firetruck crash

PROVINCETOWN — A young volunteer firefighter who joined the town fire department in his early teens at his father's side will be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in the wreck of a ladder truck Nov. 9, police said.

Police cited Elias Martinez, 21, of Provincetown yesterday based on a review of his Cape Cod Hospital medical records after the one-vehicle crash that totaled the town's only ladder truck, Provincetown police Staff Sgt. Warren Tobias said. A court date will be set in Orleans District Court, Tobias said.

In mid-November, police cited Martinez with a criminal charge of operating a vehicle negligently so as to endanger and traffic charges of speeding and failing to use caution at an intersection.

Tobias said all the charges will likely be consolidated in court.

"It's upsetting, and, beyond that, I wouldn't want to comment," Michele Couture, chairwoman of the board of selectmen, said yesterday.

"I've only gotten the information. I really haven't had a chance to process it."

The selectmen will likely discuss the case at their next meeting, perhaps in a closed-door session because it's a personnel matter, Couture said.

Martinez's father, E.J., the captain of the ladder company, declined to comment yesterday when a Times reporter visited their home. He cited the ongoing criminal case as the reason not to talk about the incident.

To replace the ladder truck with a new vehicle would likely cost at least $500,000, according to local fire department chiefs. The town's insurance will pay about $350,000, and the town could potentially purchase a used truck with that money, Town Manager Sharon Lynn said.

At about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 9, Martinez, a steward for the fire department's ladder company, was driving the truck during a road test that is normally conducted every Sunday morning, Fire Chief Michael Trovato said.

The responsibilities of a fire department steward include weekly equipment checks and road tests, and Martinez is trained to drive the ladder truck, Trovato said.

At the intersection of Route 6 and Snail Road, near the Truro town line, the front tire of the ladder truck hit a curb, Trovato said. The truck then rolled a few times.

The sides of the truck, the front cab and equipment on the truck was were damaged or destroyed in the crash.

In the truck with Martinez was 21-year-old Pembroke resident Emily Forbes, who was paid as a summer police officer in Provincetown in 2008 but is not currently on the town payroll, according to a town finance officer.

Martinez and Forbes suffered minor injuries in the crash and were taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where they were treated and released, according to fire officials and a hospital spokesman.

Forbes has not been charged in the case, police said.

"Operating under the influence is a pretty serious crime," said Provincetown Fire Capt. Roger Martin. "On a Sunday "¦ I can't believe he would have been under the influence. That would really be a shame. He's a nice kid."

For a first-offense conviction of operating under the influence of alcohol, a misdemeanor, there is no mandatory imprisonment time and the maximum sentence is 2½ years in a house of correction, according to state sentencing guidelines.

Martinez, who started with the fire department at 13 as a junior firefighter, is on unpaid administrative leave from the town's 75-member volunteer fire department.