This sucks

**dlocke1419** · 08-18-06, 03:41 PM

Police sergeant struck at scene of St. Peters Applebee's fire

01:35 PM CDT on Friday, August 18, 2006

Fire photos

Click here to watch News 4 coverage

Click here to watch SkyZoom 4 video of fire

Click here to watch SkyZoom 4 video of the sergeant that was struck

St. Peters (KMOV) -- A St. Peters police sergeant is recovering from injuries after he was struck by an SUV while working a huge fire at the Applebee's restaurant at Mid Rivers Mall.

Steve Lata

This photo was taken by a News 4 viewer as firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze.
The fire broke out just before 6 a.m. and was called in by an employee for a different company that was making a delivery.

Firefighters arrived to find flames and smoke swirling from the building. The fire quickly went to two alarms.

As the flames broke through the roof of the restaurant firefighters say they were forced to evacuate the building and fight the fire from outside the building with aerial trucks and hand lines.

Authorities say the fire, combined with the weight of the heating and air conditioning units on the roof of the structure caused the roof of the restaurant to collapse.

While firefighters were battling the blaze a police officer driving an SUV struck a police sergeant at the scene. The truck apparently backed into the officer, knocking him to the ground. The impact of the accident broke the brake light on the back of the SUV.

The police officer lost consciousness for a time. Firefighters quickly ran to his aid and an ambulance that was already at the scene took the officer to a local hospital. A news release from the St. Peters Police Department states that the sergeant's injuries are not serious.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stori...e.f7b1011.html