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Firefighters End Up As Victims After Collision

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Firefighters ended up in the hospital after a fire truck and a rescue ambulance collided in Miami Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities said they crashed near Northwest 12th Ave and 14th Street.

Firefighters said their fire engine, from nearby station 5, was heading North on 12th avenue responding to a fire, when it crashed into the fire rescue truck from the same station that was transporting a grandmother and her two grandchildren to University of Miami Hospital.

Daniel Bosch said he was in fire truck when it crashed.

"We just crashed," the boy told CBS4's Lauren Pastrana. "The windows broke and we just started spinning around."

The boy, whose little sister was also hurt, said he needed four stitches.

"The next thing you know I see the guy flying this way. I didn't know what happened and I banged my head. I was bleeding," he said.

The impact was so severe, it smashed the front end of the rescue truck and caused the fire engine to spin, and then flip over on its side.

"We saw the fire truck pass us. The next thing we heard was a popping bang sound," said witness Joanna Brown.

"It sounded absolutely horrible. You could hear the grinding twisting metal and a big boom," said witness Sally Matson.

Witnesses watched as firefighters rushed to the scene to transport seven of their colleagues to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

"At the end of the day, you've got to keep your calm and keep your cool. Obviously tensions run a little higher when you know it's your people involved," said Asst. Chief Pete Gomez with the Miam Fire Department.

"It looked like every single fire rescue person in the City of Miami was here. We saw them transporting people," said Matson.

In a subsequent accident, an adult and one child were taken to the hospital after being involved in a crash at the same intersection.

In total 12 people were taken to the hospital. None of those being treated have life threatening injuries.

Bosch said his grandmother had a broken arm.

"All in all, even though it was a significant accident, it appears as though there's a happy ending," Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban said.

The damage had many here fearing the worst.

"Casualties, that's what I would think but I hope everyone's okay," said witness Melissa Perry.

The assistant fire chief said all of his firefighters wear seat belts, even when rushing to emergencies as they did in the crash.

Authorities are not sure who was at fault for the crash but an investigation is underway.

Both vehicles are said to have had lights and sirens running

Miami Police would determine fault in this case.

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