The final moments before a Kansas City (MO) fire truck crash that claimed the lives of three people were captured on video and KSHB41 News got the recordings through an open-records request.
The television station broadcasted the video on its new casts, pausing the recording moments before impact and resuming the video after the truck had crashed into three parked cars and a building, killing the two occupants in the vehicle and a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk at the time of the crash on Dec. 15. The incident involved the responding fire truck, an SUV, several parked cars and two pedestrians.
The videos show four different perspectives of the crash and will likely be central to lawsuits filed in the incident, according to the television station.
The lawsuits involve the driver alleging to fail to exercise care in traveling through the intersection, according to the news report and another claims the city was negligent in its maintenance of the intersection.
One of the factors the videos highlight are the lights at the intersection and the videos show the fire truck, with lights and sirens activated traveling north on Broadway Boulevard with the light red for 17 seconds before the impact in the middle of the intersection with the SUV that was traveling west on Westport Road with what appears to be a green light.
The television station said it contacted the victims’ attorneys before airing the video and tried to contact city officials who declined to comment.
KSHB41 reported that the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was contacted about the investigation into the Kansas City Police Department’s report about the crash and was told the matter was still under review.