BALTIMORE– About two dozen Baltimore City firefighters waited outside Shock Trauma on Wednesday afternoon, hoping to hear from a fire captain injured while riding his motorcycle to work .
The motorcycle collided with a car on the 5300 block of Liberty Heights Avenue, authorities said.
Police said they don’t know if anyone inside the car was injured in Wednesday’s crash.
Josh Fannon, president of Baltimore Firefighters Union Local 964, said the crash happened around 6 a.m. Wednesday in northwest Baltimore as the captain arrived for work for a shift morning work.
The 45-year-old captain, who worked for the Baltimore City Fire Department for 16 years, was transported to Shock Trauma. He was still in critical condition Wednesday night, according to firefighters.
After the crash, Charles Shultz said he got a call at 7:30 a.m. After that, he drove to Shock Trauma and has been there ever since.
He is a member of the Special Services Unit with Box 414 Associationor as other firefighters call them, “gatorade slingers”.
“I’m just serving firefighters and family food and refreshments,” Shultz said.
All members of Box 414 are volunteers, said Shultz, who signed up more than 20 years ago.
“After 9/11, it was just something I could do to help,” Shultz said, breaking into tears. “It takes me, people forget 343 firefighters…all died because they were helping the public and it’s just something we can do, I can do it.”
The Special Duty Unit responds to second-alarm fires or hospitals for situations like Wednesday’s accident. Its volunteers serve hot dogs or coffee with a smile.
And Box 414 also operates the Baltimore City Fire Museum at 414 Old Town Mall.
At times like these, their trucks and the food that comes out of them are what keep people going, Shultz said.
Annie Rose Ramos
