Motor Vehicle Collision- Linthicum
Date: February 3, 2019
Time: 7:05 p.m.
Location/Address: Twin Oaks Road near the Light Rail Tracks, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090
Type of Incident: Motor Vehicle Collision
Injuries or Deaths: Paramedics transported the 38-year-old male driver of a minivan to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center with critical, possibly life-threatening injuries. Paramedics also transported 6-year-old and 3-year-old females to the University of Maryland Medical Center with minor injuries.
Additional Information: Firefighters responded to assist Maryland Transit Administration Police with an auto accident on Twin Oaks Road near the Light Rail tracks. Responders located a minivan which left I-695 near Camp Meade Road and came to rest next to the tracks approximately one-quarter mile up from Twin Oaks Road.
Dwelling Fire- Edgewater
Date: February 1, 2019
Time: 9:23 p.m.
Location/Address: 307 Oakwood Road, Edgewater, MD 21037
Type of Incident: Dwelling fire
Description of Structure/Property: one and a half story with a basement, single-family dwelling
Injuries or Deaths: No injuries to civilians or fire department personnel
Estimated Dollar Estimated Dollar Loss: $150,000
Smoke Alarm Status: undetermined
Assisting Fire Departments: Annapolis Fire Department
# of Alarms: 1 # Of Firefighters: 46
Time to Control: 35 minutes
Discovered By: Neighbors and passerby, multiple 9-1-1 callers
Area of Origin: Undetermined, under investigation
Preliminary Cause: Undetermined, under investigation
Additional Information: Firefighters arrived to find fire throughout the structure as well as through the roof of a single-family dwelling. The fire was brought under control in about 35 minutes. The cause of the fire is under investigation by members of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department Fire and Explosives Investigation Unit. Two adults have been displaced and are being assisted by the Red Cross.
Carbon Monoxide Emergency- West River
Date: February 1, 2019
Time: 3:08 p.m.
Location/Address: 100 block of Owensville Road, West River, MD 20778
Type of Incident: Carbon monoxide emergency
Description of Structure/Property: Single-family dwelling
Injuries or Deaths: Paramedics transported five patients (54, 28, 6 and 3-year-old females and a 4-year-old male) to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center for possible treatment at the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine. All were believed to have non-life-threatening injuries.
Assisting Fire Departments: Annapolis Fire Department
Additional Information: Firefighters were alerted to a possible carbon monoxide emergency with occupants of the home feeling sick. The residents reported to firefighters that they began experiencing signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure the previous day. They also reported that the furnace had been malfunctioning. The residents relocated to an adjacent home before the arrival of firefighters. Firefighters searching the home found carbon monoxide levels consistently in the 400s with the highest reading 536. They shut off the furnace and ventilated the home.
Carbon monoxide is often called the invisible killer. It is an odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel can be sources of carbon monoxide.
CO enters the body through breathing. CO poisoning can be confused with flu symptoms, food poisoning, and other illnesses. Some symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, light headedness or headaches. High levels of CO can be fatal, causing death within minutes.
Symptom severity is related to both the CO level and the duration of exposure. For slowly developing residential CO problems, occupants and physicians can mistake mild to moderate CO poisoning symptoms for the flu, which sometimes results in tragic deaths. For rapidly developing, high-level CO exposures (e.g., associated with the use of generators in residential spaces), victims can quickly become mentally confused, and can lose muscle control without having first experienced milder symptoms; they will likely die if not rescued.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers the following carbon monoxide safety tips:
- CO alarms should be installed in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home and in other locations where required by applicable laws, codes or standards. For the best protection, interconnect all CO alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for placement and mounting height.
- Choose a CO alarm that has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
- Call your local fire department’s non-emergency number to find out what number to call if the CO alarm sounds.
- Test CO alarms at least once a month; replace them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- If the audible trouble signal sounds, check for low batteries. If the battery is low, replace it. If it still sounds, call the fire department.
- If the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel arrive.
- If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow.
- During and after a snowstorm, make sure vents for the dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace are clear of snow build-up.
- A generator should be used in a well-ventilated location outdoors away from windows, doors, and vent openings.