DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Fire departments and paramedics reported a spike in crashes and high water calls Thursday morning as heavy rain pushed through North Texas. Some parts of the Metroplex received more than four inches of rain.
During the busiest hours on the highways, MedStar, the ambulance provider for much of Tarrant County, responded to 23 injury crashes. The Fort Worth Fire Department was called for six high water rescues.
"It does get frustrating because it really is very simple," says the department's Mike Drivdahl. "We want you to get to work, and really, it's as simple as slowing down and not driving through high water where you can't see the road."
Drivdahl says heavy rain also puts police, firefighters and paramedics at risk because they are called to more crashes where other drivers may not see them. This year, seven first responders across the country have been killed responding to crashes.
"That means every other day, we're having a first responder struck on the roadway," Drivdahl says. "We're here to protect the citizens in the cities that we serve."
Last Saturday, a police officer and firefighter were killed while working at a crash in Lubbock. A second firefighter was critically injured.
December 31, a Fort Worth firefighter was injured when she was getting off a fire engine and was hit at a crash scene on Highway 114. Shonna Moorman survived but was hospitalized with serious injuries.
