Smoke Alarm Alerts Beltsville Family to Fire - 2 Dogs Rescued

MEDIA CONTACT: Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, 240-508-7930

mebrady@co.pg.md.us     @PGFDPIO

Firefighters from the Beltsville area were alerted to a house fire just after 10:00 am, Friday, June 27.  Firefighters arrived to find a fire in a 1-story single family home in the 4500 block of Broad Boulevard.  Upon arrival smoke and fire was showing from what appeared to be a bedroom window.

Firefighters administer oxygen to dog after
being removed from burning home.

A working smoke alarm alerted the occupants to the fire and they escaped safely, however, 2 of their 4 dogs were unable to escape with them.

Firefighters advanced hose lines into the house and to search for any trapped occupants.  The fire was quickly extinguished by first arriving firefighters and search crews located both dogs that had retreated to their "safe place" in the basement of the house.  The dogs were exposed to some smoke and reported lethargic.  Once outside the dogs were provided with oxygen via K9 masks that had been donated to the Department.  The dogs quickly became alert and were turned over to their owners in good shape.

The cause of the fire is undetermined.  The fire appears to have originated in an area of a bedroom where a window air conditioning unit was plugged in to an electrical outlet.  The fire caused an estimated $20,000 in estimated fire loss.  No human injuries were reported.

The occupants; 5 adults, 2 children and 4 dogs, will be displaced.  The Red Cross is standing by to see if their assistance will be needed.

Firefighters from Montgomery County assisted Prince George's County Firefighters on this incident.

It's important to note that the working smoke alarm alerted residents to the fire.  This early warning allowed occupants to escape uninjured and enabled early notification to the Fire Department which arrived and limited fire extension to other parts of the house.  The risk to firefighters were reduced with all human occupants outside and the fire was quickly controlled.  Working Smoke Alarms Save Lives and reduce the risk to Firefighters.

This incident involving the family pets is the type of scenario where if the homeowners were not immediately available, the pets would have been taken to a nearby veterinary hospital where treatment would have been initiated.  This program is a joint effort between the Fire/EMS Department and SPCA called the "Sparky Fire Fund."  For additional information on this program, click here.