June 26, 2009

Two Killed in Tragic Accident in Thunderstorm   

A Chevy Chase woman and her 7-year-old daughter were killed when part of a large tree fell and landed on their minivan during a thunderstorm.  Six additional children were transported to Children’s Hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

At 1923 hours on June 26, Rescue Squad 741B, Ambulance 741D, and Chief 741 were dispatched, along with units from Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Silver Spring Fire Departments, and Wheaton Rescue Squad, to the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and East West Highway for a report of a tree on a vehicle with multiple persons pinned.  (The Rescue Squad’s medic unit and one ambulance were responding to other calls at the time.)  Chevy Chase Engine 707, stationed just a few hundred feet from the accident, immediately reported on scene with several persons trapped in a minivan under a tree. 

Rescue Squad 741B arrived on scene and found the two fatalities and the most seriously injured child were pinned in the vehicle.  In a complex operation, the crew, along with Bethesda's Truck 706, used a variety of saws and hydraulic lifts to cut away and lift the tree so that the two children could be removed from the vehicle.    Tower 706 used hydraulic jacks on one end of the tree, while the Rescue Squad used its Amkus rams to simultaneously lift the opposite ends of the tree and release the children.  One of the children was immediately transported to Children’s Hospital by Wheaton Rescue Squad Medic 742C.  The driver would not be extricated for a considerable time, so that the accident reconstruction team could complete its documentation and heavy construction equipment could be brought in to remove the section of tree, which measured more than 3 feet in diameter.

Ambulance 741D arrived just behind the Rescue Squad and immediately was presented with the five children, ranging in age from 10 months to 11 years, who were not pinned, and who had been pulled from the wreckage by passers-by.  Its crew triaged the children, and transported two of them to Children’s Hospital, while the remaining three children were transported by other units,.

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