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Firefighter-paramedic injured as Fla. fire truck runs into house

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment but his condition was undisclosed

By Joel Anderson
The St. Petersburg Times

SPRING HILL, Fla. — A Spring Hill Fire Rescue truck slammed into a home in the 6100 block of Raleigh Street on Wednesday afternoon after the driver suffered some unknown medical issue, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Christopher Bozek, 29, a firefighter and paramedic with the agency, was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He was released later that evening.

Fire Chief Mike Rampino said he couldn’t release any information about Bozek’s condition because of privacy laws. But he wasn’t sure if or when Bozek would be returning to work.

“The medical episode was the cause of what took place,” Rampino said. “I don’t know much else at this point.”

According to the incident report, the fire truck was backing down Trenton Avenue sometime after 4 p.m. when Bozek lost control of it. The truck then ran over a row of bushes and a chain-link fence along Trenton Avenue. It then crossed over Raleigh Street, hit another plastic fence and then hit the home of Vittorio de Souza.

Bozek, a six-year veteran of Spring Hill Fire Rescue, was the only person in the truck at the time. No one else was injured in the accident.

Rampino said he wasn’t sure how long the truck would be out of service. An insurance adjustor was scheduled to take a look at the truck and the home on Thursday.

“Trucks, houses and yards can be fixed,” the chief said. “But fortunately, neither (Bozek) nor any citizen in the vicinity was injured.”

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