Independence Fire-EMS responded to a motor vehicle accident behind the Fire-EMS station at 11:17 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, the department said in a Facebook post.
On duty staff reported via radio a loud explosion at the station and found a full-size pickup had struck the back of the station. Fire-EMS quickly responded with fire and EMS units and began treating an entrapped occupant. Medflight was requested to the scene to transport the patient. Fire-EMS extricated and moved the patient to the helipad for transport.
Bollards, a dumpster, and fencing stopped the vehicle from entering the station, where firefighters were seated at a table with only a window separating them from the truck. A tire was found lying on the patio furniture next to the building along with car parts and debris.
Independence Police Department is investigating the accident.
Firefighters reported seeing the dumpster fly into the air and above the canopy before striking the canopy roof and falling back to the ground.
“It was a loud explosion, we thought the energy center for the hospital building had blown up,” one firefighter commented. Another stated, “I saw the dumpster fly above the canopy roof, I couldn’t figure out what could have exploded.”
Firefighters were a little shaken to realize they were just feet from where the vehicle came to a stop.
