PLEASANT VIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Pleasant View firefighter is recovering after he was struck by a truck while working a crash.

Lieutenant Drew Akin with the Pleasant View Fire Department said his crew, Squad 6, was working a single-vehicle crash along Interstate 24. Akin said he heard air brakes moments before a truck struck one of the firefighters on the crew.

"From a boss standpoint, it was, 'What do we need to do next to make things happen? To get things moving in the right direction?'" Akin said. "But from a standpoint of — that's my friend on the ground. Not to mention it was his very first shift ever."

The 20-year-old firefighter sustained minor injuries.

"I'm glad that we'll be able to look back on it and remember it the way that it was," Akin said. "It could have been much more tragic."

Akin said it was foggy at the time of the crash, though crews had their emergency lights on. The truck that struck the firefighter reportedly did not stop. Additionally, one of the Pleasant View Fire Department's engines was damaged in the crash.

"If we have trucks that are out of service because they've been damaged — if I have firefighters that are injured and can't work, then that hurts the community," Akin said.

Even though it was an eye-opening first shift for the firefighter, Akin said he's been anxious to get back to work.

The truck driver was reportedly not injured; the Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/pleasant-view-firefighter-recovering-from-crash/