Injured Hall Co. firefighters stable after ladder truck collapse

GAINESVILLE - Hall County fire officials said a ladder truck incident at the county's training center Tuesday afternoon has injured three firefighters.<br /> <br /> The Gainesville/Hall County Joint Fire Training Facility is off Allen Creek Road.<br /> <br /> Hall County Fire Marshal Scott Cagle said the incident happened around 2:15 p.m. involving some sort of mechanical failure involving the ladder truck.<br /> <br /> "They were extended up in the ladder truck, the bucket truck," Cagle explained. "While they were in the bucket some type of mechanical failure happened and the ladder pancaked down onto itself; it free-fell about twenty feet before it stopped itself."<br /> <br /> Cagle said there were three firefighters in the bucket at the time of the accident: two were life-flighted to Grady Hospital in Atlanta, and one was transported by ambulance to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.<br /> <br /> Authorities blocked Jesse Jewell Parkway between E.E. Butler and Monroe Drive for a short time as part of the response.<br /> <br /> Just before 6 p.m., Cagle released the names of the injured firefighters in an email. Will Griffin, TJ Elliot and Stephen Jackson are all in stable condition, according to Cagle.