The back end of this Blue Earth fire truck was completely demolished when it was hit by a semi in the early morning of Sunday, March 6.

Several people were injured in a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 90 in the very early morning hours of Sunday, March 6. However, it could have been much worse, local officials say, if safety precautions had not been in place.

One of the vehicles involved was a Blue Earth Fire Department fire truck.

The accident happened at 2:17 a.m. near the Blue Earth I-90 exit, according to a report from the Minnesota State Patrol.

An eastbound semi truck and trailer crashed into a passenger van and a Blue Earth fire truck.

The driver of the 2013 Kenworth semi truck was Solomon Pio Sagot, 41, with no city listed. However, the truck had Texas plates. A passenger in the semi was Kristen Kaye Eaglestar, 24, also no residence listed.

Sagot was taken to United Hospital District with non-life threatening injuries, while Eaglestar was listed as not injured.

The driver of the 2019 Honda van was Adam Joseph Beckett, 29, of Imperial Beach, California. A passenger in the van was Devon Dean Carroll, 26, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Another passenger was Casey Allen Hampton, 31, of Lexington Park, Maryland.

All three were transported to United Hospital District in Blue Earth with non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the 1995 International Blue Earth fire truck was Corey Bruce Survis, 46, of Blue Earth. A passenger was Logan Blake Pytleski, 26, of Elmore.

Both firemen were taken to United Hospital District with non-life threatening injuries.

Neither fireman reported being injured, but Blue Earth Fire Chief Steve Brown said protocol requires they be checked out after such an incident.

“They were wearing their seat belts, but the truck was completely spun around in a 180 (degree turn),” Brown says. “They said they didn’t feel any injury, but we wanted them checked for sure.”

Chief Brown also says the accident could have been much worse, but that the position of the truck was such that it was intended to be a buffer in case of just such an incident.

“We had two fire trucks out there,” Brown explains. “Our first call that night was around 1:30 a.m. A semi had gone off the road and jackknifed into the ditch and punctured a fuel tank.”

So, the crew from the one fire truck was doing haz-mat cleanup of the spilled diesel fuel. The other truck was positioned to be a protective buffer truck for the crew doing the cleanup.

“It was all set up just as is our protocol that we have used for years,” Brown says. “All the fire trucks have a lot of reflective tape on the back, and lights flashing. This time it worked just as it was supposed to, with no firemen injured. It could have been much, much worse without that protection for our guys working on the ground.”

Road conditions were described as being snow and ice covered at the time of the accident, according to the State Highway Patrol report.