Top, the Clinton VFD fire engine that overturned Friday night. Middle,the one of the two cars hit by the fire engine. Above, the Silver Hill fireengine that flipped over two weeks ago. (Photos by Tom Carter)

Third fire engine accidentin 2 months injures 3

By Angela WaltersThree volunteer firefighters from Clinton Volunteer Fire Department

were injured late Friday night while responding to a call when their fireengine rolled over.

Johnny Charles Smith, 28, of Clinton, Theresa Brown, 19, of Clinton,and Dudley Gardiner, 54, of Waldorf, were responding to the report of acar accident at Rosaryville Road and Gambier Drive about 10:30 p.m.Smith lost control of the fire engine at the intersection of Dangerfield,Old Alexandria Ferry and Woodyard roads.

See Fire Engine, page 12

Fire TruckContinued from page one

Fire department officials saypreliininary reports indicate thathe apparently swerved to avoidhitting a car, and the fire engineflipped completely over in frontof the Dash-in convenience storeon Woodyard Road. All threevolunteers were taken toSouthern Maryland HospitalCenter.

Gardiner, who standing on theback step of the apparatus, wasthrown from the engine. He isstill being treated for crackedribs. Brown, who was riding inthe passenger seat, received aconcussion and also remains inthe hospital. Smith was treatedand released that same evening.

Fire department spokesmanTonyDeStefano said Tuesday theaccident is still under investiga-tion, but the preliminary investi-gation indicated that a car pulledout in front of the engine at theintersection. The engine struckthat car and then hit another car.No one in either of the other ve-hicleswas injured.

The accident marks the thirdaccident in the county in almostas many months in which a fireengine has rolled over on its sideor completely flipped over.Clinton's fire engine--a 1,2S0-gal-Ion 1973 Maxim with a SOD-gal-lon specialized foam tank onboard--responds to calls involv-ing gasoline fires or possible haz-ards which may arise from.petroleum or chemical spills. Theengine had an open roof ("chop-

top")-as opposed to a completely \enclosed driving cab--which is avehicle design no longer permit-ted in the nation for safety pur-poses. However, fire depart-ments that have maintainedchop-top fire engines were"grandfathered" from the safetymeasure, which was passed threeyears ago.

Just a week earlier, five mem-bers of the Silver Hill VolunteerFire Department were injured 'when their fire engine skiddedoff the road and rolled o~ itsside on Route 5. The Silver Hillcrew was responding to a reportof a fire in the air conditioner atSou thern Maryland HospitalCenter when the heavy rainsand traffic apparently causedthe engine to hydroplane and

, flip on its side just south ofAllentown Road. In that acci-dent, one crew member wasflown to the shock trauma centerand released the next day. The-other four crew members weretaken to Southern MarylandHospital, where they were treat-ed and released. That fire enginewas a 1,2S0-gallon 1984 Mac~with a SOO-gallonwater tank onboard.

On April 24, a volunteer fire-fighter lost part of his leg after adriver from Riverdale VolunteerFire Department apparently lostcontrol of the fire engine and itoverturned.

Fg:eofficialssay there is 110 pp~• r~1elf,,-. b ' I•.•parent connectIon etween thethree Incidents.

A Clinton Volunteer Fire Department truck lies upside down after Friday night accident.

Clinton flretruck flips; 3 injuredBy CYNTHIA R. BENJAMINSJournal staff writer

Three firefighters were injuredwhen a fire truck from the ClintonVolunteer Fire Department.over-turned, throwing one firefighterfrom the back step of the engine.

The truck apparently swerved toavoid a car that had pulled into itspath, colliding with that car, saidTony DeStefano, spokesman for theFire Department. The fire truck thenhit a second car and overturned, hesaid.

The driver of the first car wasslightly hurt when the truck and carcollided, he said. It is not yet clearhow the collision occurred, DeSte-fanosaid.

None of the four people in the oth-

er car was hurt.The Friday incident was the third

serious accident involving a firetruck in two months.

The firefighters were taken to .Southern Maryland Hospital Center,where two were held for observa-tion, he said.

Terry Brown, who was inside thetruck, sustained a head injury, andDudley Garner sustained head, neck,back and internal injuries when hewas thrown from the back step of theengine, DeStefano said. It was notknown late yesterday whether thetwo had been released.

Firefighter John Smith was treatedfor minor injuries and released, DeS-tefano said.

DeStefano said the cause of the ac-

cident is still under investigation, buthere appears to be no pattern link-ing the three accidents.

Five firefighters were slightly hurtwhen a fire truck overturned June 5near Camp Springs.

A firefighter lost part of his leg af-ter an April 24 accident in which apumper overturned in Bladensburg.

In Friday's incident, the Clintonfire truck, responding to an accidentat about 10:30 p.m. in the 8200block of Rosaryville Road, was east-bound on Woodyard Road when theaccident occurred, DeStefano said.

According to a preliminary investi-gation, a car pulled in front of thetruck at the intersection of Danger-field Road, he said.