Eight California firefighters were injured in a severe highway crash when their truck swerved to avoid a ladder in the road on California State Route 241.

The crash occurred when an Orange County Fire Authority truck swerved to miss a ladder in the road, causing it to flip, reports say.

Eight firefighters were hurt -- including two critically -- when the fire truck they were in rolled over while returning from a 12-hour shift battling the Airport Fire wildfire, one of several large blazes raging in Southern California,