Introduction
Daily Bulletin
Tour bus, fire engine crash; firefighter in critical condition
3/16/2005
ONTARIO — One man was killed and a firefighter was left
clinging to life after a casino tour bus packed with dozens of passengers collided with a fire engine on the 10 Freeway Tuesday morning.
Upland Fire Department engineer Tom Barilla, 40, who
was driving the firetruck, was ejected and suffered major chest and head injuries, according to California Highway Patrol officers at the scene.
With the eastbound 10 at Fourth Street closed down, Barilla was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. He remained in critical condition late Tuesday.
The two other firefighters on the engine sustained minor
injuries.
The vehicles collided at about 7:30 a.m. as the Upland fire crew was responding to an earlier accident on the westbound carpool lane of the 10 Freeway.
Barilla, who was headed eastbound on the 10, had planned
to park his engine next to the freeway median to gain access to the westbound side and was gradually merging left into the carpool lane, CHP Officer Tony Nguyen said.
The tour bus, driven by 51-year-old Nam Jae Chung of
Lakewood, was traveling eastbound in the carpool lane whenit collided with the left rear of the engine, causing the engine to rotate counter-clockwise.
