Md. Firefighters Removing Body Realize He`s Alive

LAUREL, Md. (WUSA) -- A 26-year-old man was trapped inside his burning Cadillac that had run into the back of another vehicle on I-95 in Laurel early Sunday morning. The burning car had slammed against trees in the median strip.

When Prince George's County firefighters extinguished the fire the man was declared a "Priority 4". That's the department's code indicating a patient is dead.

PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady confirms this in a statement provided to 9NEWS NOW, saying, "A preliminary patient assessment was made soon after the fire was extinguished, while the victim was still trapped within the wreckage, that he was priority 4 (deceased)."

Brady also confirms that about eight-minutes later firefighters were asked by Maryland State Police to help in the removal of the body. It was then that firefighters determined the man was still breathing. The man, whose identity has not been released, was removed from the car and, at last word from police, was in the hospital with life-threatening burns and other injuries.

Spokesman Brady confirms that a review is underway by EMS officials in the department to determine what procedures were used to initially determine the man had expired. According to Brady, "The preliminary patient assessment was made under extremely challenging and less then ideal conditions."

Written by Dave Statter
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com