Two drivers were hospitalized early Monday after one of them crashed into several Orange County Sheriff’s Department SUVs while firefighters were putting out a vehicle fire at a Stanton gas station, authorities said.
Orange County firefighters were called to a Shell gas station in the area of Beach Boulevard and Orangewood Avenue about 2:15 a.m., Capt. Thanh Nguyen said.
While working the fire, three OCSD SUVs were parked on the corner of the intersection when the driver of a car crashed into them, Nguyen said. Firefighters upgraded the call to include an additional truck and paramedics as the driver of the car needed to be cut out.
The driver involved in the initial SUV fire and the driver of the second car were both taken to hospitals for their injuries, Nguyen said.
The deputies were not in the SUVs when the crash occurred, OCSD spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. It wasn’t known if the SUVs were blocking off the street or assisting with the vehicle fire in some way.
No injuries to first responders were reported.
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the crash.
Video from OC Hawk, a freelance news organization that sometimes works with the Southern California News Group, showed a silver car on its passenger side wedged between three sheriff’s SUVs. The car showed major front-end damage and a shattered windshield, while one of the SUVs had major passenger side damage.
Kevin Lee, who was standing at an Arco gas station across the street, told OC Hawk the car was “flying down Beach (Boulevard) and jumped over the police cars that were parked on Beach and landed right here on top of these two cop cars.
“They cut it open and took him out,” he continued. “I just heard the car hit whatever it hit…it jumped up pretty high.”
Orange County fire officials were investigating the cause of the SUV fire, Nguyen said.