Update: No Charges to be Filed in Fire Engine Crash

Editor's Note: The following update was published at 2:45 p.m., Feb. 28.

Lawrence Township police have concluded their investigation into the Feb. 22 collision at Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and Texas Avenue involving a car and a township fire engine that was responding to an emergency call.

“We have investigated the circumstances surrounding the accident and at this point no charges are being filed against either driver,” police department spokesman Lt. Charles Edgar said today (Feb. 28).

Editor's Note: The following update was published at 5 p.m., Feb. 23.

Wednesday afternoon’s (Feb. 22) collision between a township fire engine and a car at Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and Texas Avenue remains under investigation and no traffic summonses have been issued to either driver at this time, Lawrence Township police spokesman Lt. Charles Edgar said late this afternoon (Feb. 23).

The two women who were traveling in the car and the four volunteer firefighters who were aboard the fire engine were all released after being treated at two local hospitals, Edgar said.

He identified the driver of the car, a Kia Spectra, as Margaret A. Dixon, 78, and her passenger as Renee Portee, 48. Both women live in the Brookshire Senior Community on Forest Ridge Drive, off Darrah Lane East, in Lawrence Township.

Edgar identified the driver of the Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. apparatus – Rescue 21 – as 60-year-old township resident Timothy Megargle. Also aboard the fire engine, he said, were Slackwood Deputy Chief Martin Sudol, 61, and Firefighters Ken Kandrac, 64, and Kishan D. Sitapara, all of whom are township residents.

At the time of the collision, about 2 p.m., Rescue 21 was responding to a reported mulch fire at the Dollar General store in the 2000 block of Brunswick Pike, at Whitehead Road. But when they were first dispatched, firefighters were incorrectly told the fire was at the Dollar Tree store in the 2500 block of Brunswick Pike, near Texas Avenue.

The reason for the dispatching error remains under investigation by township police and fire officials.

After being advised by radio of the address error, the Slackwood firefighters needed to make a U-turn in order to respond to the correct location.

Edgar said the fire engine –with all its emergency warning lights on and siren sounding – was traveling in the right northbound lane of Brunswick Pike as it approached the intersection with Texas Avenue. He said the driver, Megargle, slowed the fire engine and attempted to make the U-turn at the intersection.

As the fire engine was in the middle of its turn, it was struck on the driver’s side of its passenger cab by the Kia that Dixon was driving in the left northbound lane.

Dixon and her passenger complained of pain following the collision and were transported by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton to be treated, Edgar said.

He said the four firefighters, meanwhile, were transported via ambulances to Capital Health System’s new hospital in Hopewell Township. Megargle was treated for arm and shoulder injuries, Sudol received five staples to close a laceration to his head, and Kandrac and Sitapara were examined as a precaution even though they complained of no injuries, he said.

The collision left the front of the Kia crushed and caused significant damage to the fire engine.

Slackwood Fire Chief Michael Oakley said today that it remains unclear if Rescue 21 can be repaired. He said staff at the township public works department will likely bring in a fire apparatus expert to assess the damage.

The accident remains under investigation by Officer Sean Kerins.

Editor's Note: The following is the original story, published about 3:20 p.m. Feb. 22.

Two civilians and four volunteer firefighters were injured when a car collided with a Lawrence Township fire engine this afternoon (Wednesday, Feb. 22).

None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, according to Lawrence Township Police Chief Daniel Posluszny, who was among the many emergency workers who responded to the crash scene at the intersection of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1) and Texas Avenue.

Posluszny said the exact circumstances of the collision are under investigation at this time.

Preliminary information gathered thus far indicates that Rescue 21 from Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co. was responding to a small mulch fire at the time of the crash, which happened about 2 p.m.

The police chief said the fire was at the Dollar General store in the 2000 block of Brunswick Pike, at Whitehead Road, but for a reason that authorities do not yet know it was incorrectly dispatched as being at the Dollar Tree store in the 2500 block of Brunswick Pike, near Texas Avenue.

After being notified of the error, the Slackwood fire engine – with its emergency lights and siren on – was in the process of making a U-turn from northbound Brunswick Pike, at Texas Avenue, when it collided with the car, which was also going north on Brunswick Pike.

The collision caused significant front-end damage to the car and appeared to have snapped the front axle of the fire engine.

The two women who were traveling in the car and the four volunteer firefighters riding aboard Rescue 21 were transported to area hospitals by ambulances from Lawrence and Trenton.

A heavy-duty tow truck was brought in to remove the damaged fire engine. Southbound Brunswick Pike was closed at Texas Avenue for over an hour because of the crash.