St. Petersburg firefighters accidentally run over victim they were sent to help

ST. PETERSBURG — The callers to 911 Thursday afternoon said there was a man bleeding from the face near the fire station. Two firefighters piled into Rescue 5 to go help him. They opened the garage bay door, turned on the emergency lights and pulled forward.

Then they heard a "thump."

The firefighters accidentally ran over the very person they were sent to help.

"They never even saw him," said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Joel Granata.

Authorities said the man who was run over is Ted Allen Lenox, a 41-year-old homeless man. He suffered life-threatening injuries and was at Bayfront Medical Center Thursday night.

Alcohol was a factor, according to a St. Petersburg police report, which was not specific.

The accident took place about 3:45 p.m. outside Master Fire Station 1 at 400 Dr. Martin Luther King St. S. The facility houses St. Petersburg Fire Rescue's headquarters and two fire companies.

Lenox was struck as he lay outside garage bays on the north side of the building. Vehicles coming out of those bays exit onto Fourth Avenue S.

According to police and fire officials, Emergency Medical Technician Jason Springer, 36, climbed into the driver's seat of Rescue 5. Paramedic David Bucholz, 32, rode shotgun.

But neither apparently knew that Lenox was lying just 2 to 3 feet in front of Rescue 5's bay, authorities said.

It was unclear Thursday whether the 911 callers said how close Lenox was to the station, and if they did, whether that information was relayed to the crew.

"Neither Springer or Bucholz saw, or could have seen, Lenox in the position he had placed himself in," the police report states.

The vehicle that ran over him is a Ford F-650, a 10-ton truck with a boxy rear bay used to store medical equipment and treat patients. The vehicle sits high.

"They couldn't see him in front of the truck," said Lt. Granata. "You can't see the ground."

Rescue 5's front wheels didn't hit Lenox, but the undercarriage caught and rolled him. The crew stopped after they felt the truck's rear tires roll over his legs.

He was pinned underneath. Firefighters raised the vehicle, pulled the injured man out and treated him. His condition was unavailable Thursday.

Lenox often hung around downtown, police said. His family could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The firefighters involved in the accident remain on duty, Granata said.

He wished that the crew would have been told prior to leaving the station that the man was right at the foot of the garage.

"We would have just walked out the door and looked," he said.

Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.