1 dead after Tesla slams into firetruck on I-680 in Walnut Creek, officials say

coming out of the East Bay, new details on a deadly crash which killed the driver of Tesla and injured several firefighters on I 680 in Walnut Creek. ABC 7 news reporter Cornell Bernard says despite being involved, firefighters jumped into action to help. Yeah, we're all seated in belted in. Um yeah, we were just we were basically blocking the scene. Contra Costa County Fire Captain Kristimao says his crew was about to clear the Chris DeMeo says his crew was about to clear the scene of a non-injury accident on Northbound 680 in Walnut Creek early Saturday when their fire engine was suddenly rocked. Very jolting and it almost just didn't feel like it was real. So just remember all my equipment in the rig going forward.

The captain says their rig was struck by a Tesla. The impact so powerful parts of the car went underneath the ladder truck. The stunt firefighters jumped into action. We're trying to cut these people out and save these victims. Sadly the car's driver died at the scene. The passenger was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. The CHP says it's unclear if drugs or alcohol were a factor and it's still unknown if the Tesla had its autopilot feature engaged.

While firefighters were working, another car in the freeway narrowly missed them. It was very tense. I was like just had one incident and it was just about to have another incident. Four firefighters including Captain DeMeo went to the hospital. We were treated for lower back pain. One of my guys had a cut on his hand. Most of the firefighters were back on duty Saturday afternoon.

But despite its size, its color, and all the flashing lights, firefighters say this is not the first time a car has collided with one of its trucks. It's occurred multiple times. It occurs so much throughout the United States that there's a national standard for how fire departments respond to accidents on the freeway. The department says the fire crew followed that protocol using the engine as a safety barrier to protect other first responders on scene. They remind drivers the law requires them to slow down and move over when approaching emergency vehicles. Captain DeMeo says his crew did what they were trained to do. The thing was I'm very proud of my guys because just as much as we were in an accident, they all jumped right in and started doing their job.

And it was like, it would just go, go, go. In Walnut Creek, Cornel Bernard, ABC 7 News.

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