A 67-year-old Seabrook man has filed suit against the Burton Fire District and Beaufort County after his vehicle collided with a firetruck on Aug. 3 at the intersection of Trask Parkway and Bruce K. Smalls Drive in Burton.
Rufus Williams sustained non-life threatning injuries as a result of the crash and was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital, according to a Burton Fire District news release about the incident.
The firetruck was turning left from Bruce K. Smalls Road to travel south on Trask Parkway with its lights and sirens activated while the sedan was traveling north on Trask Parkway, Lance Cpl. Matt Southern of South Carolina Highway Patrol said the day after the crash.
Though state law allows emergency vehicles to proceed through red lights, they still have "the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons," Southern said, quoting the law (SC 56-5-760).
Williams declined to comment Wednesday afternoon, through his attorney Jonathan Krell.
The suit, received by the Beaufort County Clerk of Court's office on Aug. 22, alleges the acts which led to the incident were "negligent, careless, reckless, willful and and grossly negligent," including improper training, failing to properly observe the road and failing to comply with internal rules, procedures or regulations.
The suit was served to the county on Sept. 22 and the county does not yet have a defense attorney to handle the suit, Tom Keaveny, attorney for Beaufort County said Wednesday afternoon.