SOQUEL — Authorities are investigating a cause after a fire truck rolled backward into a ditch during an emergency medical call Sunday night.
The Central Fire District of Santa Cruz County’s Soquel station was called just before 6 p.m. to Hilltop Road near Soquel San Jose Road for a medical emergency.
“In the process of tending to that injured person, the crew noticed that the vehicle started rolling backwards,” Central Fire Marshal Mike DeMars said of the agency’s fire engine. “As far as they know, they did all the appropriate stuff when they got there. Spotting the vehicle, parking the vehicle. It is unknown why the vehicle started to go into reverse by itself. It rolled across the street and off the embankment.”
DeMars said the engine has been taken out of service and a reserve vehicle put in its place while mechanics repair its damages and evaluate its systems to determine what failed. Minor damage was caused to a roadside railing, he said.
To tow the fire truck out of its hole, all firefighting equipment had to be removed and the water tank was emptied, DeMars said.
“The good thing is none of the crew was actually on the vehicle at the time, so nobody got hurt,” DeMars said. “They completed the injured person they initially responded to and no other cars were involved.”
