LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Nearly 1,200 feet of fire hose caused damage to multiple cars on Florida’s Turnpike when it fell off a Lake County Fire Rescue truck.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the fire rescue truck was traveling northbound around 11 p.m. Sunday when the hose dropped near mile marker 281.
Troopers say multiple cars ran over the hose with couplings, causing damage and flat tires to about 10 vehicles. The FHP also responded to two separate crashes caused by the incident.
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News 6 started asking questions about the incident after a viewer, Rich Denmark, reached out to us. He said he was on the way home to Gainesville after a concert in Orlando Sunday night when he saw the hose in the road.
“All of a sudden, the car in front us starts swerving erratically, trying to avoid something,” Denmark said.
Demark says the hose was fully stretched out across the northbound lanes.
“There really was nowhere to go except the shoulder because of the way it was spread out,” Denmark said. “And, it wasn’t just, you know, a hose as you might imagine it in your head. It has couplings every so often, these big round metal chunks.”
Denmark said he and his friend narrowly missed the hose on the highway but did find one other person online who posted about damage to their car.
News 6 also reached out to two people on social media who claimed their cars had flat tires and damage to the undercarriage, and we’re waiting to hear back from them.
“We had to have been going somewhere between 70 and 80 mph just knowing the area,” Denmark said. “Luckily, it was a bit sparse and the car in front of us was far enough away that we got a little bit of warning from it.”
When News 6 reached out to Lake County to ask about the incident, a spokesperson confirmed that they were conducting an internal investigation.
You can read their full statement below:
“We’re still in the preliminary stages of our internal investigation. Our understanding is that the hose somehow detached from the fire truck during travel. Because we’re still in the beginning stages of the process, it’s still too early to tell what action is needed moving forward.”
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