Rookie DC firefighter still critical after being hit by ladder truck

WASHINGTON - A rookie D.C. firefighter remains in critical condition following a tragic accident at the scene of a house fire earlier this week. Dane Smothers, Jr. is still hospitalized at Washington Medstar Hospital.

Smothers, 28, was among the Engine 3 firefighters who responded to the fire at a home on F Street NE on Capitol Hill late Wednesday night. He was getting ready to attack the flames when he became pinned between the engine and a ladder truck.

Sources tell FOX 5 his injuries were traumatic. He was knocked unconscious and medics revived him with CPR.

Smothers has only been a DC firefighter for about two months. He also has two uncles who are DC firefighters, and one of them responded to the fire where he was injured.

The Smothers family issued a statement Thursday afternoon, and in it, they asked for prayers and privacy.