4 Houston firefighters hospitalized after big rig slams into their engine

Four Texas firefighters were injured early Sunday when an 18-wheeler slammed into their fire engine as they were blocking traffic to a freeway entrance following a car crash, authorities said.

The incident unfolded around 2 a.m. in north Houston, according to the Houston Fire Department.

The injured firefighters were taken by ambulance to a hospital, officials said.

“We are asking for prayers for our four injured firefighters,” Patrick M. “Marty” Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, said in a social media post.

The fire crew had responded to a traffic accident on the Eastex Freeway and was blocking the entrance to the freeway at Northpark Drive with a Houston Fire Department pumper engine when they were hit by the big rig, authorities said.

The firefighters suffered “injuries of varying severities,” according to a statement from the fire department. “All are expected to fully recover.”

Three of the injured firefighters remained hospitalized on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what injuries the driver of the big rig sustained.

The crash remains under investigation.

“Blocking traffic on the freeway is one of the most dangerous tasks we do,” Houston Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz said in a statement on social media. “We’re extremely grateful that every member of Engine 104 is expected to recover, and we ask drivers to slow down and move over when they see emergency crews working.”

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