Fatal collision as Bravest race to fire

BY NOAH ROSENBERG

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 8:27 PM EDT

“I just heard the siren from my room, and then I heard a bang,” said Cecelia Newell of the April 19 accident in Jamaica that took the life of 27-year-old Angela Johnson.

According to witnesses and a police report, the recently engaged Johnson was traveling southbound on 155th Street just before 10 a.m. Saturday when she collided with a FDNY fire truck traveling westbound on 111th Avenue as it responded to a fire.

“When I came out I saw the car pinned onto the hood, the bumper, of the fire engine,” Newell said, noting that in her 11 years living at the intersection she has never seen any serious accidents but has witnessed her fair share of near collisions.

Johnson, driving in a Nissan Maxima, was transported to Mary Immaculate Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. Six firefighters, transported to Long Island Jewish Hospital, are listed in stable condition. The investigation is ongoing.

“It’s a dangerous intersection - but it’s a four-way stop,” said an area resident.

“Everybody’s supposed to stop. Everybody should obey the stop sign.”

Meanwhile, cars, trucks and SUVs rolled through the intersection, sometimes barely braking before continuing past the impromptu memorial emerging from ruts in the dirt where Johnson’s vehicle came to a halt.

A note, attached to a tree branch stuck in the earth and surrounded by candles, read:

“You Are The Love of My Life.

You Are My Heart, My Soul.

You’ve Meant More to Me Than Anything.”

Cars continued to race past.

“I’m really sorry about what happened,” said Jason Thomas, 23, who lives nearby on 111th Road.

“I’m not really surprised because the way the roads are, most cars don’t read the signs. They just try to go through,” he said, adding that he thinks the intersection needs a traffic light.

Thomas Arrington agreed, noting that he has seen “quite a few” accidents in his 42 years living at the junction of 111th and 155th.

“There’s a lot of traffic. It’s almost like an expressway in the evening,” Arrington said, explaining that vehicles spill onto 111th attempting to avoid the congestion on Linden Boulevard.

However, Thomas thinks things will just get worse at the dangerous crossroads. There are more accidents every year when it gets warmer and schools let out, he explained.

“With the summer coming, it’s going to get hectic,” he said.

Photo courtesy The New York Daily News
This accident at 155th Street and 111th Avenue in Jamaica on Saturday, April 19 took the life of 27-year-old Angela Johnson.