Four first responders hit by an alleged drunk driver in Commerce City will recover from their injuries — two were released from the hospital Friday — but investigators expressed frustration the crash even happened.

Officials from the Colorado State Patrol, Commerce City Police Department and South Adams County Fire Department conducted a press conference on Friday to breakdown the crash that occurred on the westbound lanes of Interstate 76 near Sable Boulevard around 9 p.m. Thursday A driver in a Toyota Tacoma drove through a barricade, hitting two police officers and two firefighters.

First responders were in the area working on a previous single-vehicle DUI crash. The fire department had a firetruck barricading two lanes and was directing traffic around the incident on the right shoulder of the highway.

The driver — identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Winters — drove around the left shoulder and into the scene, hitting the four public safety personnel. Investigators believe Winters was driving under the influence, according to Master Trooper Gary Cutler of the Colorado State Patrol.

The speed of the truck has yet to be determined, but all four hit suffered injuries.

“It’s getting beyond even believable how many DUI crashes we’re having that are not only hurting our public, but now we have our emergency personnel who can’t even do their job without getting hit by someone who decided to drive drunk,” Cutler said.

State statistics show 194 people have died in impaired-driving crashes through Nov. 1, according to data from the Colorado Department of Transportation — a decrease from last year.

The state recorded 278 impaired-driving deaths in 2022, a 6% increase from 2021 and a 60% increase from 2019, where there were only 163 impaired-driving deaths.

“We need people to actually start taking responsibility on this,” Cutler said. “People need to actually listen. We’ve talked, we’ve talked, we’ve talked and nobody’s listening… There’s no reason that anyone needs to be drinking and driving.”

Ken Koger, fire chief for the South Adams County Fire Department, said the firefighters had blocked off the roads correctly, following Tactical Emergency Medical Services protocols.

“These guys are trained. They parked their vehicles to protect them, and it’s still not enough,” Koger said. “Being a firefighter today and walking into burning buildings, it’s not the danger of the job anymore. It’s being on the highways. This has got to stop.”

One of the firefighters and one of the officers hit were released from the hospital. The other two remained hospitalized.

Koger became emotional while talking about the injured firefighters, saying this is the first time he’s dealt with such injuries within his department. The seriously injured firefighter is married and has a young child, he said.

“The cruel irony in this entire thing is that they were investigating another DUI collision when this DUI collision occurred,” Joanna Small, public information officer at the Commerce City Police Department, said. “It’s tragic. Even when people recover, it’s still tragic. We certainly want people to change their driving behavior.”

The Commerce City officer who’s still hospitalized is 30 years old and has been with the department for two years. The other injured officer is 33 years old and has been with the department for five years, Small said.

Winters was being held in the Adams County jail on suspicion of vehicular assault – DUI. His bail was set at $10,000, according to jail records.

The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS contributed to this story.