Firetruck totaled en route to structure fire, no one seriously injured in crash

BENTON, Mo. — A Scott County Rural Fire Protection firetruck carrying three firefighters crashed on Route H in Benton while responding to a structure fire Thursday night on Kona Drive.

According to a crash report filed by Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. James Cooksey, the crash occurred at 6:47 p.m. in Scott County when the firetruck ran off the right side of the roadway, then overcorrected and ran off the left side of the roadway before striking a guardrail and colliding with a passenger vehicle, then overturning and falling into a creek.

Both vehicles were totaled in the crash and two of the firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Multiple agencies are responding to a structure fire near Highway 77 in Scott County.Ben Matthews

After a tow truck lifted the firetruck from the creek, Scott County Rural Fire Protection District chief Jeremy Perrien said the shoulder of the roadway had recently been redone and the loose earth combined with the wet pavement contributed to the heavy truck being thrown off balance and overturning.

“I’m just glad no one was seriously hurt,” Perrien said. “We can replace a truck.”

As members of Sikeston (Missouri) Department of Public Safety arrived at the scene of the crash, other fire crews from Scott County Rural Fire Protection District joined firefighters from the Scott City Fire Department and the NBC Fire Protection in extinguishing the structure fire.

Neighbors at the scene said they believed the trailer to have been unoccupied when the fire occurred, but an official fire report had not been filed at the time of publication.