Mannford first responders were already on scene handling one crash on Highway 51 when a second driver plowed into their vehicles, injuring the town's fire chief. Police say the chief was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, and the driver who struck the emergency vehicles was expected to be cited after being released from the hospital.
According to News On 6, firefighters and police had responded to an earlier crash in Mannford and were directing traffic at the intersection of Highway 51 and Highway 48 when another driver struck two of their emergency vehicles. The fire chief was injured in the collision but was reported alert and walking around afterward, per the outlet's report.
KJRH offered additional detail on how the scene unfolded, reporting that crews were working a crash involving a car and a minivan when a pickup hit the fire chief's Suburban. KJRH attributed that account to Police Chief Brett Gibson, who said the crash occurred on Highway 51 just west of Mannford. The station reported the fire chief was taken to the hospital with injuries described as not life-threatening.
Driver Cited After Striking Emergency Vehicles
Police said the driver responsible for hitting the emergency vehicles would be cited after being released from the hospital, according to the News On 6 report. News On 6 reported that the elderly driver failed to yield and drove through the scene.
Mannford police and the fire chief had been handling the earlier crash and directing traffic on Highway 51 at the time of the second collision. It is not the first time traffic along that stretch of highway has turned into an emergency scene; a separate incident previously reported by the same outlet involved a motorcycle rider struck by a van on Highway 51, with paramedics taking the rider to a hospital.
A Known Risk for Responders on Active Roadways
Incidents in which vehicles strike emergency personnel working roadside crash scenes are not unique to Mannford. A case report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health describes a July 2021 incident in which a career firefighter died and three other responders were injured after a vehicle entered an active crash work scene and struck them. That case, detailed by CDC/NIOSH, is a separate incident from Mannford's but underscores the hazard crews face while working crashes along open roadways.
No further updates on the fire chief's condition or the cited driver's identity have been reported.
