Ohio Firefighter Charged With Vehicular Homicide

A Columbus firefighter is facing vehicular homicide charges for an apparatus accident that occurred last July while he was driving an engine on I-270. Tyler J. Conners, 25, reportedly was driving an engine at slow speed on the highway and was seeking to utilize an emergency turnaround when the apparatus was struck from behind.

A police investigation determined the engine was driving at 24 mph when it was struck by a 1993 Ford Ranger pickup that was traveling at 74 mph. Killed in the crash driver of the Ranger, Timothy Wiggins, 63.

The investigation concluded that the engine was operating without its emergency warning lights, and that it moved from the right lane to the middle lane, and then into the high-speed lane which caused another vehicle to crash into the median. It was then that Wiggin’s vehicle ran into the engine.

Conners, who graduated from the Columbus Fire Academy earlier this year, is on administrative leave pending resolution of the criminal charged.