Firefighter Critically Injured During Training Exercise In Downtown LA

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter has been transported to a trauma center after being injured during a training exercise in downtown Los Angeles.

The incident unfolded just before 9:45 a.m. at the Barclay Hotel Saturday in the 300 block of South Main Street and roads were still closed as of 5 p.m.

The fire department hasn't released the name of the firefighter or how long he's been working for them. At last check, he had been taken to a local trauma center in critical condition.

Fire officials have been going up and down this 85-foot ladder all day, trying to figure out how the firefighter fell during what was supposed to be a routine training exercise.

The fire department is now talking to witnesses and the other firefighters on the crew to determine exactly how far the firefighter fell. They say he landed on the top of the truck and was immediately treated by fellow firefighters on the scene, before being taken to the hospital. Although they train for accidents like this, they say they don't happen that much.

Ulises Melgar was working across the street at the time.

"We were opening the shop when all of a sudden you just hear a big bang," Melgar said. "There was a firefighter laying on top of the truck so it appears he fell down during the training."

Melgar says he's used to seeing ladder trucks like this in this part of downtown Los Angeles.. Firefighters often train in and around the high-rise buildings on the weekends, when there's not as much traffic around.