Porter Firefighter Hit By Car While Responding To Crash On Turnpike

A Porter firefighter is recovering after he was hit by a car while responding to a crash on the Muskogee Turnpike Sunday morning.

The fire chief said he's relieved the first responder only has a broken arm and knows this incident could have ended much differently.

The Porter Fire Department is made up of 18 volunteers. All of these guys know each other, they've grown up together, so to hear the news of one of the firefighters being hit by a car is gut-wrenching, according to the Chief.

Adam Springsted, Porter Fire Chief, says volunteers from his department were working at the scene of a crash involving a car and semi on the Muskogee Turnpike just west of Highway 69 when another car came through and hit one of the firefighters.

Getting that phone call stopped him right in his tracks.

"Your heart sinks, I mean your mind goes blank, you just don't know what to think--it's one of your own--it's just like taking care of one of your kids," he said.

Investigators say the firefighter was far from the roadway, and the driver collided with other cars causing follow-up crashes.

He got extremely lucky, I mean extremely lucky, it could have come out a lot worse," Springsted said.

It's state law for drivers to move over or slow down when emergency lights are flashing on the roadway. Springsted doesn't mince words about the importance of paying attention.

"Stay off your phones, quit texting and driving, slow down, pay attention, when you see the flashing lights--it doesn't mean speed up, it means slow down--be aware of your surroundings," he advises.

Springsted reassured that the firefighter was alert and talking with him before being taken to a hospital.

"I was in the back of the ambulance talking to him the whole time, he's in stable condition, joking around, just being himself--could have been a lot worse," Springsted said.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has not released information on the status of the drivers involved in the other crashes.