Yonkers firefighters tried desperately to save an off-duty police detective after the veteran cop's SUV crashed head-on into a ladder truck early Sunday, officials said Monday.
Yonkers Police Det. Frank Fernandez was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 3 a.m. after a collision with Ladder 75, which was responding to a call to the Rosemarie Ann Siragusa School, or School 14, on Crescent Place.
The call turned out to be a false alarm, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Fitzpatrick said.
The truck was en route from its firehouse on Fortfield Avenue when Fernandez crashed his Suburban into the firetruck on Palmer Road near Sunnybrook Road. Fitzpatrick said the firetruck had its lights and sirens on.
Firefighters tried to extricate Fernandez, 45, out of the vehicle, but were unable to save the 15-year veteran.
"The Yonkers Fire Department mourns the passing of Det. Fernandez," Fitzpatrick said. "Our thoughts are with his family and the Yonkers Police Department." Four firefighters were treated and released from St. John's Riverside Hospital after the collision, Fitzpatrick said.