Crime & Public Safety | OCFA Firefighter Injured Fund Surpasses Quarter Million Dollars, Highlights Sense of Community Among First Responders

More than $265,000 has been raised so far for the firefighters injured when their truck overturned on an Orange County toll road last week. The money has come from top Southern California crews, fire and police unions and others.

The crash occurred on the evening of Sept. 19, north of the Portola Parkway exit on the northbound 241 Toll Road. Eight members of the Orange County Fire Authority’s Santiago crew were returning to their command post in a transport truck after a 12-hour shift battling the 55,000-acre airport fire in the Cleveland National Forest area.

For reasons under investigation, the driver lost control and struck a metal guardrail, causing the truck to roll over and over several times before landing on its side. Six of the eight injured crew members, who were between the ages of 24 and 34, were seriously injured.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 24, four critically injured service members were still hospitalized, officials said. They were expected to remain in the hospital “for a considerable period of time,” OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said at a news conference last week.

A relief fund for the eight affected firefighters and their families has been set up by OCFA and their union, with a fundraising goal of $500,000. The money raised will help with medical expenses not covered by insurance, caregiver costs and other additional expenses they will incur “on the long road to recovery,” said Chris Hamm, president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, Local 3631.

“We drive the same kind of buggy, we do the same job they do… I’m sure they would have done the same thing for us,” said Patrick Fearon, a foreman at Los Angeles County’s Fire Camp 8 in Malibu. Fearon and nearly 30 other crew members collectively contributed $2,000, with each individual doing their part.

In total, more than $265,000 had been raised as of Tuesday, with about $236,000 donated through GoFundMe and just over $30,000 through PayPal. Donors included hotshot crews and firefighters’ unions in Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire and as far away as Sacramento and Vacaville. The largest donation so far came from San Bernardino County Professional Firefighters Local 935, which gave $15,000.

“It is a tragic incident. Anything we can do to help our brothers and sisters in Orange County, we will always do,” said Jim Gregoli, president of IAFF Local 935.

Some local police unions also showed support, including the Garden Grove, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach police associations. Brian Stroud, president of the Garden Grove Police Association, described the relationship between police and fire departments as a special brotherhood, with a long history of both agencies being there for each other. When he was injured on the job, OCFA was there for him.

“We are there to help them and they are there for us. If one of them goes down, we feel the pain too,” Stroud said.