Eight firefighters killed in Oregon crash

VALE, Ore. -- A van full of firefighters collided with a tractor-trailer and exploded in flames Sunday, killing all eight inside and injuring the two people in the truck.

The firefighters, all under the age of 23, were returning home to Oregon late Sunday afternoon when the van crashed on a remote eastern Oregon highway about 15 miles west of Vale, Malheur County Sheriff Andy Bentz said.

The firefighters worked for First Strike Environmental, a Roseburg-based contract firefighting company. Fire coordinators said the crew was returning from fighting a wildfire in Idaho.

Names of the victims were not immediately available.