CITYWIDE — Santa Monica firefighters have established a fund to support the Looney family during their recovery following the loss of their son in a car crash on June 6.
The Las Vegas family was traveling to the beach on June 6 when their minivan was rear ended by a dump truck. The force of the impact pushed the minivan into a big rig killing 2-year-old Noah Looney. Jeremiah Looney, 17, was airlifted to a local hospital with a serious neck injury. Other members of the family received varying degrees of injury.
Initial reports suggested the truck might not have seen slowing or stopped traffic in the McClure tunnel.
The accident shut down traffic on the I-10 for several hours. While officers quickly began diverting traffic off the freeway, cars backed up for miles in both directions and local neighborhoods filled with drivers seeking alternate routes.
SMFD Battalion Chief Mark Bridges said firefighters were motivated to help the family given their lack of local connections.
"It appears they are going to be here for a while receiving medical care so we wanted to do something for them," he said.
Firefighters established a bank account at Chase Bank (Account # 3095918057) with a $1,000 donation. Bridges said anyone could make a donation to the account at any Santa Monica fire station. Checks can be mailed to SMFFF — Looney Family, 222 Hollister Ave., Santa Monica, Calif., 90405.
Bridges said he hoped the account would draw donations from around the local area and from the Looney's native Las Vegas.
"Our hope is that the community will get involved," he said. "We've already seen people all over the area and in California that have said they are touched by the incident."
He said the account information would also go out to Las Vegas media outlets with the hope that even more people will help.
matt@www.smdp.com
