Elderly man knocked to the ground by wayward fire hose

An elderly pedestrian was taken to the hospital after a hose flew off the side of a fire truck, knocking him to the ground.

Authorities said the victim was standing on a street corner in Revere, MA, waiting for a ride as the fire truck was making a turn.

The truck cut the corner, whipping the fire hose around and bringing the man to the ground.

A family member said the victim was sent to the ICU with broken bones and a concussion.

The fire truck was seen on surveillance tape dragging its 200-foot long fire hose down the street. Authorities said the crew on board had no idea what had happened.

"He was moaning. He was hurt," said Arthur Pantano, who witnessed the incident.

Pantano said it took people a minute to figure out what had happened.

"The engine was to the right, he was on the ground. And there was a hose," Pantano said.

Fire Chief Gene Doherty said when he heard the incident on the radio, he went to the scene.

"It wasn't transmitted what had occurred, I just knew the inflection of the voices of the officers calling for additional help that something was drastically wrong," Doherty said.

According to Doherty someone flagged Engine Four down, and when the crew got out, they were stunned to see what had happened.

"It was a terrible thing, Doherty said. "It was terrible seeing that gentleman lying on the ground as the guys were working on him."

Why the hose came loose is anyone's guess, but Doherty said it appeared it had been loaded properly.

"It's just freaky. No one meant to do it. No one really meant to do it," Pantano said. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The man was still in the hospital Friday morning but was expected to be OK.

The Fire Chief said he has ordered some specialized netting to go over that hose to ensure when that truck is on the road that this does not happen again.