A Las Vegas Fire-Rescue captain who was paralyzed from the neck down in an apparatus wreck nearly 15 years ago has died from his injuries.
The Review Journal reports that Capt. Thelonius "Theo" Adams passed away Tuesday night in Las Vegas as a result of the injuries he sustained in a November 2003 apparatus rollover. The 54-year-old firefighter was a 13-year veteran of the fire service at the time of the accident.
The crash, which happened on the Rainbow Blvd. ramp on US 95 that has since been torn down and replaced, happened while Adams and his crew were responding to a call that proved to be a false alarm.
A probe of the incident revealed that only one of the four firefighters on the engine was wearing a seat belt, and the driver was later cited and fined for “duty of driver to decrease speed under certain circumstances.”
Fire department maintenance records also showed that the speedometer on the engine needed to be replaced but never was.
A private memorial service will be held Monday for Adams’ immediate family and members of the fire department.
