Eight firefighters were injured when a fire truck overturned on a highway in California Thursday night as they returned from battling a wildfire, authorities said.

According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), the Orange County handcart swerved to avoid a ladder in the middle of the highway, then struck a guardrail and overturned. ABC7.

Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said seven of the eight injured firefighters were taken to hospitals by ambulance and one by helicopter. Six firefighters sustained serious injuries in the incident. (RELATED: Video shows fire truck swerving to avoid car, then crashing into building)

Eight firefighters were sent to the hospital after a rollover crash on an Orange County highway.
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Fennessy said the accident happened around 7 p.m. as firefighters were returning from a 12-hour shift battling the 23,000-acre airport fire.

“One of our manual crews, Santiago Crew 1, was completing a 12-hour shift when they were involved in a single-vehicle rollover accident,” Fennessy told reporters at a news conference. “You can only imagine how shocked their fellow firefighters were to see them injured like this on the highway.”

Manual laborers typically work long hours in dangerous conditions, including steep terrain and extreme temperatures. OCFA website.

According to the website, their duties in fighting fires include “constructing direct and indirect fire lines, lowering operations, launch operations, mopping up and repairing fire suppression equipment.”

“These are some of the toughest issues we have to deal with. It's heartbreaking,” Fennessy said. “I know my team and all of the firefighters at OCFA and all of the firefighters across the region and the country are praying for our members. I would ask everyone listening to this to please keep our firefighters in your thoughts and prayers.”