Ripon firefighter injured in accident | News

A Ripon firefighter was injured in an accident on Ransom Street last Friday.

Lt. Jonathan Ellis of the Ripon Area Fire District (RAFD) was struck by the ladder mount of Engine No. 16 and pinned to the rear of Battalion Squad No. 5 while responding to a call for hoist assistance.

Ellis was taken to the emergency room at Ripon Community Hospital and released from the hospital later that evening. He is doing well, according to RAFD Board Chair and Public Information Officer Ellen Sorensen.

Sorensen noted that the RAFD launched an investigation into the incidents on Monday for various reasons and is now awaiting the submission of incident reports from all those involved.

“It’s very unfortunate and we’re very happy that the firefighter was not seriously injured. He was injured,” she said. “This must never happen again and that’s why there is an investigation so we can correct what went wrong.”

While the RAFD investigation is ongoing, Ripon Police have released their report on the accident that occurred Friday night of last week. According to Sergeant Bradley Kurczek, who was on patrol at the time, he arrived at the scene at 10:47 p.m. after hearing a request for additional emergency medical services units following the earlier EMS and RAFD calls.

After the patient who had been the original call was removed from the building and Kurczek prepared to evacuate, he was asked to speak to John Hollatz, the RAFD’s acting fire chief, about a reportable accident. Hollatz indicated that the ladder rack of Engine 16 had struck the rear of Battalion Squad No. 5.

“The fire chief told me he was not on the scene when it happened,” Kurczek wrote in the accident report. “He told me Engine 16 was operated by Howard Stibb, a Ripon firefighter. Howard had backed up, hit a tree with the extended ladder, and then drove forward. Ripon firefighter Lt. Jonathan Ellis was in command and was at the rear of Battalion (No.) 5. Engine 16 drove forward, hit Lt. Ellis, and pushed him to the rear of Battalion (No.) 5. The fire chief told me there should have been buzzers telling Howard not to move the vehicle.”

Kurczek stated that he then spoke to Stibb, who told him that he was the only one in engine No. 16.

Stibb showed where the vehicle was parked, which was between a telephone pole and the tree that was struck. He said he was unaware that another firefighter (Capt. Cody Boers) had taken a ladder from Vehicle 16, which is why the rack had to be deployed. The rack is about 6 feet from the side of the vehicle when deployed.

Stibb told Kurczek that Ellis had asked him to move Engine 16 to the front of the house to provide lighting and that he was too close to Battalion Squad No. 5, so he tried to back up, but the truck wouldn’t move. At that point, Stibb believes he hit the tree. He said he thought the handbrake was on, so he pressed it to make sure it was released, then began to drive forward. That’s when he heard Ellis scream.

Kurczek noted that Stibb told him he was “crawling along” and stopped when he heard Ellis.

Stibb told Kurczek that if he had known the ladder stand was outside, he would have put it back in place and continued on.

Kurczek asked Stibb if anything went off in the cab, such as an alarm, to which Stibb said, “He doesn’t remember how loud the truck was.” He added, “He was more focused on not hitting anything than paying attention to the dashboard lights.”

After speaking to Stibb, Kurczek next spoke to Boers.

Boers told him that he had extended the ladder rack so far that it was between the tree and the telephone pole. He stated that as he was moving around the scene of the accident, he heard Engine No. 16 start to move and tried to radio it to stop moving, but to no avail.

Then Boers heard Engine No. 16 hit the tree and move forward. That’s when he heard Ellis scream. Boers said when he got to Ellis, he was trapped in the truck compartment of Battalion Squad No. 5. He said they had pushed Battalion Squad No. 5 far enough forward to get Ellis out.

Kurczek asked Hollatz if he could see the dashboard of Engine 16 so he could see where the warning light was, but he was advised that the vehicle was in park and not illuminated and would need to be put into drive mode. Kurczek noted that he did not think this was safe since the two vehicles were still together.

He took photos of the accident scene and then left the scene to check on Ellis at the hospital.

Kurczek met with Ellis and Ellis told him he was behind Battalion Squad No. 5 looking at the open trunk area. He then radioed Engine No. 16 to come to the front of the residence and provide lighting, whereupon he was struck in the head with the ladder rack and pushed into the trunk and trapped.

Ellis said he had not lost consciousness and would be able to come out once the 5th Battalion squad advanced.

In addition to Ellis’ injuries, which Sorensen said are the biggest concern, Engine No. 16 was also damaged. Sorensen said a door that firefighters open to get equipment out is damaged and she doesn’t think it will close, so it needs to be repaired.