Adult, two children killed in wreck on Highway 78 near Wylie

A volunteer firefighter from Collin County and his two children were killed in a wreck on Highway 78 near Wylie on Thursday afternoon.

The wreck, which occurred about 2 p.m., happened just south of Hwy. 78 and 205 when a van traveling southbound unexpectedly swerved into the northbound lanes and hit a Toyota sedan head-on.

Peter Hacking, a volunteer firefighter from Nevada, Texas, and his two children in the Toyota were dead at the scene. Three people in the white van were taken to a Plano hospital with serious injuries, officials said.

As news spread of what happened, multiple jurisdictions rushed to the scene.

"When something like this happens, we try to pull together as a community," said Trooper Kyle Bradford. "All law enforcement, fire department, everybody in the surroundings of Lavon coming out."

A call went out to all area firefighters to help cover the Nevada station as Hacking's fire family copes with the loss.


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