By FireRescue1 Staff
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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — A truck driver was seriously injured after his tractor-trailer plunged into a steep ditch Tuesday.
The driver, heading northbound on Route 301 in Upper Marlboro, lost control of the vehicle and then went over the shoulder embankment and down a steep hill.
Two saddle tanks burst, spilling 150 gallons of diesel fuel, which covered the driver. The northbound lanes of Route 301 were shut down to clean up the spill.
Firefighters were actually the first people at the scene. A contingent from the department’s command staff had just departed a promotional event at the Croom Fire/EMS Station in Upper Marlboro.
As Fire Chief Lawrence H. Sedgwick, Jr., Lt. Col. Karl Granzow and Executive Officer Major Larry Joy made their way north on Route 301, they came upon the crash.
The driver had already self extricated himself from the cab and lay motionless on the embankment. Lt. Col. Granzow made his way down the steep embankment and started to assess and treat the driver’s injuries. Fire Chief Sedgwick and Major Joy established the command post and directed incoming resources to the appropriate positions.
Due to the position of the victim and the steep slippery embankment, firefighter/medics who arrived needed to use a stokes basket to remove the patient safely from the area.
It took about 30 minutes for personnel to package the patient, remove him from the immediate area, decontaminate him as he lay in a pool of diesel fuel and transport him to a trauma center.
A hazmat team worked to control the flow of diesel fuel from the trucks saddle tanks, offload the remaining product and clean up any contaminated products from the scene.