Paramedic, 6 Others Hurt in South Side Crash

Paramedic chief was responding to a fire when another vehicle struck SUV near East 95th Street and South Stony Island Avenue

A driver has been cited following a Wednesday night crash that injured six people, including a Chicago Fire Department chief.

Nicole Chaparro, 42, was ticketed for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, police said.

The Chicago Fire paramedic chief was hospitalized when the sport-utility vehicle he was driving rolled over during the multi-vehicle crash on the South Side.

The chief was responding to a fire in the 9200 block of South Greenwood Avenue when another vehicle struck the fire department’s Ford Expedition about 8:55 p.m. near East 95th Street and South Stony Island Avenue, said fire department spokesman Joe Roccasavla.

The fire department SUV rolled over and came to rest upside down, Roccasalva said. The paramedic field chief inside was taken in critical but "stable" condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

"He’s going to be OK," Roccasalva said. "He took a pretty good hit though."

Nobody else was inside the fire department SUV, but six other people from three other vehicles involved in the crash were hospitalized in good to fair condition, Roccasalva said.

Four people were taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital and two people were taken to South Shore Hospital. Their ages and genders were not immediately available.

The fire department initiated an EMS Plan 1 response to bring at least five ambulances to the scene, Roccasalva said.

The incident was secured by 9:30 p.m., but investigators remained on the scene. Police said officers were on the scene helping direct traffic.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
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