A Marble volunteer firefighter was injured Friday afternoon when the fire engine he was driving was hit from the side by a Walmart semi-truck on Highway 412 in Marble. According to Marble Fire Department Chief Ron Pfeiffer, who was at the scene, the engine was leaving the Marble Fire Station on Madison 2405 to respond to a field fire that had been reported on Highway 21. When attempting to turn right on to Highway 412, the semi hit the truck. Pfeiffer, who declined to release the volunteer firefighter's name, said the brakes may have been defective on the fire department's rig. Another witness at the scene who asked not to be identified said that the truck made no attempt to stop at all, indicating the brakes were completely out or the driver didn't see the oncoming truck traveling eastbound. Pfeiffer said the firefighter driver was injured, but he wasn't sure of the extent of those injuries. Several agencies – including Madison County EMS, Madison County Sheriff's Office, Huntsville Fire Department, and the Arkansas State Police – responded to the scene. An air ambulance was also being paged to transport the firefighter to a hospital. By all accounts, the driver of the Walmart rig was uninjured.
Another witness said he isn't surprised at the accident, as there is no speed-limit reduction on the highway when entering Marble, which features several businesses and a couple of intersections.