On the morning of June 21, 2024, at approximately 10:44, 911 calls began flooding the Howard County public safety answering point regarding a car crash on Interstate 70 between Woodbine Road and Morgan Station Road. At the same time, the Maryland State Police reported that a trooper on the scene was requesting aviation for the sole occupant of a vehicle.

Engine 41 and Tanker 4, having just cleared a box alarm for a house fire in Marriottsville, responded to the call. Paramedic 45 and Tanker 4 quickly arrived to find a heavily damaged vehicle in the slow lanes of eastbound I-70 with the driver still trapped inside. Tanker 4, with Chief 4 Bravo, established the “I-70 command,” and Engine 41 immediately began stabilizing the vehicle and extricating the patient.

As additional units arrived, further scene surveys revealed a second vehicle involved in the crash. The two occupants of this vehicle refused care after an assessment. Interstate 70 was shut down in both directions, and the MSP Aviation Division’s Trooper 3 helicopter landed on the scene to transport the patient to a nearby trauma center.

Initial reports suggested that an MSP trooper was involved in the crash; however, the trooper on the scene was a witness and was uninjured.