At approximately 12:43 p.m. on Friday, May 29, the St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department was alerted to a trash truck fire on Broomes Island Road fully involved.

Units from St. Leonard, Prince Frederick, Solomons, Huntingtown and Charles County were dispatched to the call.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but unconfirmed witness statements are that the driver somehow lost control while driving on Broomes Island Road south and went through the yard of a nearby home and struck a tree.

Also unconfirmed at this time are reports that a nearby resident saw the accident pulled the driver from the truck.  The driver of the truck was flown to hospital by helicopter. The extent of his injuries are not known at this time.

The fire destroyed the cab of truck and was heavily involved within the trash compact area of the truck.  The outside cab of the fire was quickly controlled by Prince Frederick VFD, but it took several hours to get complete access to the compact area of the truck by removing side door and cutting a hole into side of truck to apply water and foam on this area.

More details will be made available as they are released by authorities.