D.C. Lt. Injured, Falls Down Elevator Shaft

[Guest]

Best wishes to D.C. Fire Dept. Lt.Tony Carroll for a speedy recovery.

Looks like there was nothing he could do to avoid it since the gas explosion in the building trew him into the shaft. Now, why the gas supply hadn't been shut off is another matter........... :-k

Firefighter injured in fall through elevator shaft

Keith Walker 

Potomac News 

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Though his leg and back injuries are extensive, doctors expect Tony Carroll to fully recover and return to work, said Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Chief Ricky Arrington.

Carroll, a Washington, D.C., Fire Department lieutenant and assistant chief at the OWL Volunteer Fire Department, fell 30 feet into an elevator shaft in an explosion at a fire Tuesday in southeast Washington, D.C.

"He's still at Washington Hospital Center," Arrington said. "They're still doing tests. He's resting."

A toddler was killed and 20 were injured in the natural gas explosion and fire at the 11-story Marbury Plaza, an apartment building in the 2300 block of Good Hope Road.

The fire displaced 100 people, Etter said.

Witnesses at the Marbury said the explosion rocked the building.

The explosion in a second-floor laundry room knocked Carroll into the elevator shaft where he fell to the basement, said Alan Etter, D.C. fire department spokesman.

"We can confirm that there was a tremendous explosion in the building," Etter said. "It caused $1? million worth of damage."

There was no word when Carroll could return to work, but he's in good hands. District firefighters are well covered for injury, Arrington said.

"Those guys up in D.C. take care of their guys pretty well," he said.

Still, the OWL volunteers will be around to give Carroll help and support during and after his hospital stay.

"We're just standing by right now to see what he needs," Arrington said."When we decide what he needs, we'll rally the troops around."

The possibility of injury or death is a prospect every firefighter faces daily, Arrington said.

"It's one of the more dangerous jobs in the world," he said.

[JBE 328]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[DOC22 1]

Best Wishes for a quick and full recovery

[Guest]

=D> =D> =D>

D.C. Firefighter's Recovery Surprises Everyone

Firefighter Recovers From 30-Foot Fall

POSTED: 8:24 am EDT April 26, 2005

UPDATED: 8:47 am EDT April 26, 2005

WASHINGTON -- D.C. firefighter Lt. Tony Carroll is recuperating faster than anyone expected.

In January, he was rushed to the hospital with a broken back and broken ribs after a 30-foot fall. He and another firefighter had entered a hallway to battle a raging fire in the Marbury Plaza apartment building in southeast Washington.

Through smoke and flames, Carroll said he saw what looked like the open doorway to an apartment, but instead he stepped into an elevator shaft. The doors had blown off in a natural gas-fueled explosion.  

"I thought it was an apartment, I can remember making the decision to go and that's it, and I don't remember anything until the guys were putting me in a stretcher, to get me out," Carroll said.

Only recently has Carroll been able to pick up his youngest daughter, who was 2 months old at the time of the accident, because he was in a body cast for months.

Through is recuperation Carroll said his wife suffered the most. "You can't tell that it took a lot out of her, she took the brunt of this. She did," he said. "I've been able to sit here on the couch. This is probably the spot I kept for three months with a cast on. I couldn't take care of the kids and I couldn't drive. She did everything."

Carroll said despite everything, he is eager to return to work at this fire station on Capitol Hill.