Hose falls from fire truck, damaging 4 cars in Minn.

By Mara H. Gottfried
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A fire hose fell off a fire engine and onto Interstate 94 in St. Paul on Thursday night, damaging four passing cars, the Minnesota State Patrol said.

No one was injured when 1,200 feet of four-inch diameter hose unfurled from the engine, said St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard.

"It's very rare that this would happen," he said. The department will be looking into how it occurred.

At about midnight, the State Patrol was called to the incident on westbound I-94 at Hamline Avenue, said Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske. The fire hose was in the right lane.

Four drivers said they had run over the hose and their vehicles had been damaged — one reported a bent tire rim, one had a flat tire, another had two flat tires, and another said the car wouldn't shift after hitting the hose, Roeske said.

A tarp is fastened to the engine to keep the hose in place, and it wasn't known how the hose had fallen off, Zaccard said. The hose came from Engine 18, which is housed at Station 18 at University Avenue and St. Albans Street.

Copyright 2011 St. Paul Pioneer Press
All Rights Reserved