Posted on Feb 14, 2013

A volunteer firefighter who was seriously injured Jan. 30 in a truck accident in Prince George’s County has undergone several hours of surgery to have his arm reattached.

Ryan Emmons, 30 years old, was one of seven people injured in a Maryland truck crash involving a fire truck, a tractor-trailer, and a jeep. Emmons is a lieutenant with the West Lanham Hills Volunteer Fire Department.

The accident occurred along U.S. Route 50 in Landover, where firefighters had responded to the scene of an earlier accident that turned out to have no injuries.

A fire engine carrying four of the volunteer firefighters was just leaving the scene around 2:40 a.m. As the driver of the fire truck slowed down in the left southbound lane to make a U-turn in the emergency-only turn-around, a tractor-trailer continuing southbound along the Capital Beltway rear-ended the fire truck.

The collision caused both vehicles to lose control and crash through the cement barrier into the northbound lanes. At least one of the trucks then crashed into a northbound Jeep sport-utility vehicle.

All four firefighters, the tractor-trailer driver, and the two occupants of the Jeep were taken to local hospitals for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Emmons was taken to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. His arm was detached from the elbow down. After more than nine hours of surgery, surgeons successfully managed to reattach the severed arm, though they cautioned that the next several days would still be critical.

Meanwhile, no charges have been made in the accident, and investigators have said it could take weeks to determine who was at fault.

We offer our wishes for full and speedy recoveries to each of the victims of this tragic accident.

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