CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One person is dead after a fire truck and motorcycle collided on Monday.
According to a news release, the Charlotte Fire Department was called to a medical incident at the 7700 block of Little Avenue on Monday around 5:36 p.m.
As a Charlotte fire truck was en route to the scene, a wreck happened between it and a motorcycle at the intersection of Pineville-Matthews Road and McMahan Drive.
Ellie Hinkle works across the street from where the crash happened.
"I saw car parts flying from the firetruck and I assumed that there was already an accident and the firetruck was just running over it," she said. "But then more sirens started to come."
Charlotte Fire personnel began treating the motorcycle driver after the crash. The person was transported to a local hospital where they were later pronounced dead. The motorcycle driver has not been identified by police or family at this time.
There’s now a growing memorial near the crash site with flowers, candles, and a pair of motorcycle gloves. Friends of the motorcycle driver told WCNC Charlotte's Jesse Pierre they also left sharpies so people can write messages to remember him, saying he lived life to the fullest and was happiest on a bike.
This incident is under further investigation by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
According to a report released last month by the National Fire Protection Association, crashes involving fire department vehicles are on the rise in the United States.
In 2021, there were 18,775 crashes involving fire department vehicles responding to or returning from emergency calls. That’s about 3,000 more than in 2020, when that number was 15,675. The year before that in 2019 wasn't much lower at 15,350 such crashes. And in 2018, that number was down to 14,425.
Hinkle said she is still in shock.
"They do go very fast and not everyone is going to move out of the way like they are supposed to," she said. "It’s the first time I’ve heard of anything like this with first responders happening in this area."
WCNC Charlotte has reached out to CMPD for more information and will provide an update when it is available.
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