HOUSTON – A firefighter was injured after he was pinned between two trucks inside a northwest Harris County fire station, according to authorities.
The incident happened Thursday morning at the Little York Fire Department in the 14000 block of Walters Road.Â
According to the fire department, the firefighter, 23 year-old Joey Spitzenberger, was sitting on the back bumper of a fire truck when a large pickup truck driven by a co-worker pulled into the station garage.
"I got pinned against the back of the fire truck and the other vehicle," said Spitzenberger. "We were able to get the other vehicle to release me by backing it up a little bit."
"As any chief officer or fire fighter or dad for that matter, you just kind of wonder what happened," said Spitzenberger's father, Tony.
"The firefighters tires were wet when he pulled into the bay so whenever he stopped, the truck came to a small skid before it hit the back of the bumper," said Deputy Chief Shawn Richardson with the Little York Fire Department.
Spitzenberger was pinned between the two trucks for a short time before other firefighters rushed in to help.
"I'm like okay, am I still alive? That's when I felt the pain so I'm like 'I'm alive,'" said Spitzenberger. "I was expecting the worst. It's a big truck."
He was transported via LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann Hospital and released a couple of hours later.Â
Spitzenberg sustained two cracked ribs and several bruises.
"I'm feeling lucky, very lucky," he said.
"It's definitely not your everyday, not your normal everyday incident," said Spitzenberger's father.
"Our firefighters face danger every day and something like this is out of the ordinary and we're very very fortunate that the firefighter is really going to be fine," said Chief Fred Windisch with the Ponderosa Fire Department.
We're told the 23-year-old is employed as a part-time firefighter at the Little York Fire Department, and as a full-time firefighter at the Ponderosa Fire Department.