Detroit Fire Engine crashes spark trial of new safety alert

DETROIT – Local 4 has been tracking this story for months as Detroit first responders get into serious crashes while responding to emergency calls.

We’ve learned that several crashes involved Detroit fire engine rigs, and one incident sent seven people to the hospital.

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Late Saturday night, a report of a Molotov cocktail being thrown into a home on Detroit’s west side.

Photos from West Warren Avenue and Miller Road showed what happened when a Jeep SUV appeared to have smashed into a fire engine with its sirens and lights on.

No one was hurt in the crash.

On Sunday, a fire engine and a minivan collided on West McNichols Road and Wyoming Avenue on the city’s west side.

Seven people in the minivan had to be taken to the hospital. All have been treated and released.

The Detroit Fire commissioner is making news as we spoke with him on Monday (Nov. 4).

Detroit Fire is in a pilot program, and the company HAAS Alerts to use its safety cloud technology.

The alert system on a fire engine can send a signal to Stellantis vehicles by turning down the stereo and putting an alert on the driver’s phone.

“We’re hoping that that would help curve some of those accidents and alert people before we get to some type of intersection or street,” said Detroit Fire Commissioner Charles Simms.