Firefighter recovering after hydrant breaks off base and strikes her in Naples Park

A firefighter is recovering in the hospital after a fire hydrant broke off its base during a firefight in Naples Park and struck her.

Susana Webb, the North Collier firefighter injured by the hydrant, was flown to Gulf Coast Medical Center, where she underwent several hours of surgery.

“Susana is doing amazing,” said Heather Mazuriewic, an employee for the North Collier Fire District. “She’s a force of positivity and love and determination and passion, so all of those attributes are coming through right now.”

Webb is recovering at the hospital, surrounded by her family to give her support.

“She knows she has a long road to recovery, but she also knows that she has the support of the firefighters, her fire family, and of course, the community,” said Mazurkiewic.

She was part of a crew dispatched to a two-alarm fire near Vanderbilt Drive on Monday.

According to the North Collier Fire Department Public Information Officer, “The hose was dry and wrapped around the fire hydrant as the engine moved slowly to lay the hose line on the ground. The hose line got caught on the tailboard of the truck, it pulled the hose line that was wrapped around the hydrant, taut and the hydrant acted by its design and broke away striking our firefighter.”

According to the PIO, the hose was not hooked up into the fire hydrant.

The PIO reported that this fire was particularly difficult to extinguish due to a hoarding situation inside the home.

The PIO claimed that the fire had begun in the bedroom of the house.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.