For many residents of the Pittsburgh area, the Fourth of July holiday is a perfect time to get together with family members and friends. These gatherings prompt safety campaigns regarding not only drunk driving but the use of fireworks as well. While these types of accidents often make headlines this time of year, there are however, of course, other ways in which a person can be injured over the holiday such as in a truck accident.

A fire truck was involved in an incident in which an 8-year-old boy was hurt this past holiday. The boy was a passenger in an SUV driven by his mother that collided with the fire truck in Rostraver Township. The accident occurred in the evening, at a controlled intersection where Fellsburg Road intersects with Fells Church Road.

The child reportedly suffered serious injuries in the collision that necessitated facial reconstruction surgery. The other passengers of the SUV, the boy's mother and sister, were not hurt in the crash. Neither was the driver of the fire truck.

According to authorities, the SUV had a green light at the time the incident occurred. Firefighters on the ladder truck claim the truck had its siren on when it entered the intersection. If that is the case, per state law, the SUV would have needed to yield to the emergency vehicle.

Because the accident is being considered a traffic accident, no one involved is expected to face criminal charges. Hopefully the injured boy will recover quickly and will not have to live with long lasting effects of the accident.

Source: WPXI, "Boy, 8, seriously injured in Fourth of July crash involving fire truck," July 13, 2012