Command staff as first responders: PGFD chief and top aides pull up on tanker crash and hazmat scene.

It almost sounds like the first line of some firehouse humor: “A fire chief, an assistant chief and a bureau chief were riding along the highway”.

That’s how this story starts from Prince George’s County, Maryland, but it was a pretty serious matter.

Chief Lawrence Sedgwick, Lt. Col. Karl Granzow and Major Larry Joy were on Route 301 returning from a promotional even at Station 45 (Croom) around 11:30 AM on Tuesday. Heading north bound they soon found a tanker truck wreck just past Croom Road.

According to PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady, the tanker had jackknifed and then hit a guardrail sending the cab over the guardrail and into some large trees. The trees held up the vehicle as it rested on a steep embankment.

The two saddle tanks ruptured leaking 150 gallons of fuel. The tanker portion was reported empty and remained intact. The driver had been able to get himself out of the cab but was motionless on the ground.

According to a press release by Brady:

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.

Brady was also on the scene and shot the two video clips of the driver being removed via a stokes basket. He reports:

It required 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 with serious injuries.