Fire Engine Wrecks Horn Lane Bus Stop

No one reported hurt but accident to be investigated

Yesterday morning, Horn Lane was left strewn with wreckage after a fire engine ploughed into the Northbound 266 bus-stop near the junction with Creswick Road.

When we arrived at the scene, three firefighters had been taken away by the London Ambulance Service. It is not thought that any of them was seriously injured. Fortunately, as Laura Wood who lives near-by commented, "nobody was waiting or walking past the bus-stop at the time, otherwise it could have been dreadful - fatal, even. The noise was very loud."

We talked to Group Manager Ryan from the Fire Brigade HQ Accident Investigation Team. His team is investigating the accident. "The Fire Appliance came around the bend going North on Horn Lane. It was overtaking a slowly moving car. As it came around the corner the appliance came across the road and collided with the bus shelter. No one was hurt as far as we are aware, but two or three firefighters are being checked for any injuries.

"The vehicle has been impounded and later on we will be taking statements from the firefighters. This is standard protocol for an incident such as this."

Workmen were dismantling the bus stop which was leaning over at a precipitous angle. They told us: "It needed replacing, anyway."

As you can see, the back of the fire engine was badly damaged. As we watched, it was being moved onto a large towing vehicle and a heavy metal bucket fell off into the road which was quickly recovered by one of the team.

We are asking the Accident Investigation Team to keep us informed.

May 3, 2010