Firefighter will remain in hospital overnight

A newly 911 call, tells the frantic moments first responders were dealing with after a firetruck crashed into five cars near Lake Travis, on Wednesday.

The driver of that truck William Tatsch, had a medical emergency which caused him to lose consciousness. We don't know what type of medical emergency Tatsch had, but we do know he will be staying in the hospital overnight.

LISTEN TO AUDIO FROM 911 DISPATCH HERE

 

 

The Lake Travis Fire Fighters Association says he's been driving for Lake Travis ESD # 6 for 13 years and has never had a medical emergency while operating a fire engine.

He’s been with the department for 17 years.

Read Firefighter suffered a medical emergency, caused accident on FM 620

Joel Neimeyer, Rachel Zambrano, and Brian Baker were the other three firefighters who were hurt.

They’re expected to be okay.

On Wednesday the Lake Travis Fire Department said: STARflight had difficulty landing because there were several drones in the area. And, they had to wait to land, until those drones cleared the airspace.

The Lake Travis Fire Fighters Association confirmed in a press conference Thursday civilians reported sightings of multiple drones in the area, which is why STARflight was delayed.        

Read 10 people transported following collision of five cars and firetruck  

Thursday afternoon, Chuck Spangler who is the Director of Aviation Operations at Travis Co. STARflight told FOX 7 they had no issues with landing and didn't know about a drone being in the area until after they landed.

 “I don’t know where the confusion happened,” Spangler adds. He says they’ve previously had to deal with delayed landings because of drones, but not in the multi-car crash on Wednesday.

They’re cautioning folks if they see a big accident or emergency, follow the rules.

“If you come across an incident like yesterday where people can hear helicopters in the area land your drone,” Spangler says.