Saturday Evening, October 8th, around 2200 Tuesday Crew on duty: Rescue Squad 29 and Medic 20 were dispatched to Fenton and Bonifant for “car into a pole with one trapped”.

Rescue Squad 29 Crew: Captain Pilkey, MFF Hollen, MFF Gluecksmann

Medic 20 Crew: PMIC Strasburg, FFIII Saputo, FFII Wyble, EMT-B Diaz

A four foot wide section of a red oak came down on an F-250 pickup truck traveling east on Bonifant in downtown Silver Spring (1′s area). Although the driver was killed instantly, the passenger was a severely trapped priority 1 trauma. Electric lines were down around the scene so a perimeter was set up with rescuers inside perimeter and most everyone else outside of the perimeter away from the wires to await PEPCO.

Rescue Squad 29, assisted by Takoma Park Truck 2 put together two box cribs to stabilize the the tree branch. Once cleared by PEPCO the passenger was extricated by Rescue Squad 29. M20 and Trooper 8 took over care, and the patient was transported by air to a local trauma center. RS29 was held on scene for a few hours more to await MCPD’s investigation and assist with recovery.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy soaked the Washington metro area with rain starting Friday morning, October 7, 2005, and continuing through Saturday night. The Friday Night Crew ran nearly 30 calls in 18 hours, including 17 squad calls. These calls included 5 box alarms in our response area, and an overturned tractor trailer blocking the entire outer loop of the Beltway.