A fire engine ran over two people in West Sacramento on Oct. 18, killing one person and injuring another, authorities said.
The fire engine was responding to a report of a brush fire at a homeless encampment near railroad tracks on the 500 block of Jefferson Boulevard around 11 a.m. when it drove over a carpet on a dirt trail, West Sacramento Police Department spokesperson Taylor Nelson said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Oct. 21.
“As the brush rig accessed the scene, a firefighter ’spotter' was in front of the truck, to guide access through a debris-strewn area,” Nelson said in a statement.
Later, two people were discovered beneath the carpet. The incident resulted in the man’s death and left the woman with serious injuries, Nelson said.
The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office coroner removed the man’s body, and the woman is being treated at UC Davis Medical Center, where she is in stable condition.
The identities of the deceased man and the injured woman had not been released as of Monday afternoon, pending family notification.
Jerry Delgada told KCRA 3 on Oct. 19 that his mother was the woman who was run over. Katie Petrina Mota has been homeless for about 15 years, he said.
“I want to know what happened. My family wants to know what happened,” Delgado said. “It was a tragic accident here. A life was taken, that’s as worse as it gets. And I haven’t heard back from anybody, I haven’t even heard from a doctor.”
Another person who visited the scene on Saturday told KCRA 3 that he knew both victims and had worked with the man at a recycling center.
He said he would pray for the injured woman to recover. “You know, I never expected for that to happen,” Juan José said.
The West Sacramento Fire Department personnel involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave, Nelson said, in accordance with city administrative policy.
“We are grieved any time that an emergency response results in a death or injury of someone we are sworn to assist,” said Fire Chief Steve Binns in the statement. “We will fully cooperate with the [California Highway Patrol] to help determine exactly what happened.”
“We provide exceptional training and resources to our firefighters and will assist each firefighter who responded through this tragic situation, including with grief counseling,” he said.
Nelson said that the California Highway Patrol has taken over the investigation, and no further information is available at this time.
