The first involved the squad vehicle of JCSO Maj. W. Martin Schwartz. At about 12:44 a.m. Monday, Schwartz used his police radio to report his squad had caught on fire. Schwartz used his vehicle fire extinguisher to fight the engine fire, but it was too large a fire for the extinguisher.
“I got on the radio and I said, ‘I can’t get this thing out,’” he said. “The siding on the house started melting, and I said, ‘The house is gonna go up.’”
Schwartz said he had gone to his home, in the 100 block of Sarasota Trail, for lunch and to let his dogs out.
“I smelled smoke, and when I checked out the front door, I could see my squad was in flames,” he said.
He parked the squad vehicle outside of the garage, but close enough to the house that when the engine caught fire, the fire damaged the siding and paint on the side of the house.
There had never been any problems with the vehicle before, Schwartz said.
Jefferson Fire Protection District Chief Mike Huntman said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
The second incident occurred at about 4 p.m. Monday near Subway on 10th Street.
JCSO Deputy Jeremy Wilton’s squad car was struck by a driver of a two-door passenger vehicle in front of Subway. Wilton was transporting a detainee, who was checked and later released back into custody, said Sheriff Roger Mulch.
Wilton was transported by Litton Ambulance to a local hospital with shoulder and neck pain.
Mulch said there is $3,000 to $5,000 of damage to Wilton’s squad car, including a broken left front wheel and denting on the same side.
“It’s been a bad, bad Monday,” Mulch said. “Both (incidents) were, as far as we know — they couldn’t be prevented... It’s an unfortunate day for us, but it’s part of the risk for the job.” http://goo.gl/ux7T2
