Jason Copper, of Sound Beach, ID'd as driver killed in crash with Medford fire truck

The driver killed Thursday afternoon in a collision with a Medford fire truck has been identified by the Suffolk County Police Department as Jason Copper, 39, of Sound Beach.

Copper was behind the wheel of a 2015 Dodge Dart at about 12:35 p.m.  when the sedan collided with the fire truck in Medford at the intersection of Route 112 and the Long Island Expressway South Service Road, the police department said late Thursday in a news release.

Cooper was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Suffolk police said.

The ladder truck was heading south on Route 112 to assist the North Patchogue Fire Department with a house fire when it hit the Dodge. The sedan had been heading east on the service road, according to Medford Fire District Commissioner Eric Rotermund.

"The fire truck had its lights and sirens activated," Suffolk police said in the release late Thursday.

Three firefighters were on the truck at the time of the crash, Rotermund said.

The driver and two passengers in the fire truck were transported to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.

A department spokesperson did not have information regarding the speed of either vehicle at impact, or whether the Suffolk County toxicology laboratory would be analyzing samples from anyone involved in the crash for alcohol or drugs.

Suffolk police conducted "a safety check on the fire truck at the scene" before impounding it, the department said. The Dodge was also impounded for a safety inspection.

More coverage: In 2023, 222 people died in Long Island crashes. Suffolk has led the state in the total number of traffic fatalities for at least a decade, while Nassau has ranked second deadliest in six of the past 10 years, a recent Newsday analysis found.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had the crash occurring on the wrong day.