Fire Tender Crashes Into Street Pole

Chronicle (Levin), 2 April 1948, Page 7

Fire Tender Crashes Into Street Pole

AUCKLAND, April 1. Two fxrerneii wero inju'j-ed whexi a closed-in tender from the Uentral Pire iStation left the roadway and collided with a pole on a sharp bend in Cfreai ^lorth lload, Grcy Eyntx, tliis afternoon. l'lxe engiue was oji ils way to the Westuiefc Sehool to atteud what proved to be a malicious false alarm. The injured men were John Edward Keating O'Connell, junior station oflicer, who suffered injury to the face, and John Russell Forster, lireman, injury to the back and sliglxt lacerations to the scalp. Both weri able to go lxoxne after re ceiving treatnxent at the casualty department at the hospital. Heavy rain was falling at the timo of the aecident. When the tender left the road after failing to negotiate the corner, Driver A. Little attempted to steer it into the library grounds but it struck the pole a glancing blovv on his side. Forster, who was starfding on the platf orm at the back, was flung on to the footpath. Little and another lireman escaped injury. The front wheels, axle and springs were sheared off the tender and the right hand front was severely erushed. The impact brought down "telephone wires, tranxway over^ head wires and a speeial wire for the disfrict 's fite alarm system.