A senior volunteer firefighter says he gave his colleague the 'okay' before they drove through an intersection and collided with a car last year.
Station officer Brian Arons was in the front passenger seat of the operation support vehicle, which had been called to a serious house fire in Wellington on July 24 2015.
Driving the vehicle was John Klaphake, who's currently on trial for the careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury.
Mr Arons told the court on Monday he remembers looking "left, right and then left again" at the intersection before telling Klaphake it was okay to drive through it.
He says they had the sirens and lights going and there was no traffic in front of them.
They were part-way through the intersection when he remembers seeing the car coming from the left.
"I saw the vehicle coming and said to John, stop. And it was over."
The car spun 180 degrees on impact and crashed into a pole, trapping the driver, Azeb Kebede.
She had to be cut from the vehicle and was taken to hospital with fractured ribs.
Ms Kebede told the court she didn't see or hear the fire engine coming, as she approached a green light at the intersection.
"I remember the impact but don't remember seeing the fire truck at all."
Another witness told the court he didn't hear a siren either, while standing outside his stepson's shop on Constable St that morning.
Kurt Madsen described seeing Klaphake's fire engine coming down the street approaching a red light at the intersection.
He told police prosecutor Garth Coffey the traffic was heavy and Klaphake's vehicle seemed to be trying to pass cars so it could get through the lights.
He turned away for a second and then heard the crash.
The judge-alone trial is due to finish on Tuesday.
Newshub.
