Bladensburg High Rise Apartment Fire

Prince George's County Firefighters fought a fire in a Bladensburg high rise apartment building late Friday night.  At about 11:40 pm, Friday, June 10, 2011, firefighters from Bladensburg and surrounding communities were alerted to a fire in an apartment on the top floor of 5800 Annapolis Road.  This location is a 10-story high rise apartment building; Phoenix Apartments high rise has a total of 150 units.  Firefighters arrived to find a working fire on the 10th floor and initiated operations to advance hose lines to the upper floors and evacuate residents from apartments in the immediate area of the fire.

A Second Alarm was sounded bringing additional fire and EMS resources to the scene.  Two civilians were evaluated and treated on the scene by paramedics for heat related illness and exhaustion, however, did not go to the hospital.  There were about 60 firefighter/medics on the scene that required about 30 minutes to extinguish the fire and check for extension.  Firefighters worked well into early Saturday morning with overhaul operations and assisting occupants back into the building.  The majority of the damage was contained to the apartment of origin, although, an additional 3 apartments sustained heat, smoke and water damage.  Eight families, 14 adults and 2 children, were displaced as a result of the fire.  They are receiving assistance from the County Citizens Services Unit and apartment management.

Fire Investigators determined the cause of the fire is "accidental" and attributed to unattended cooking.  Fire loss is estimated at $85,000.  Cooking, most notably "unattended cooking" is the leading cause of fires and fire related injuries in Prince George's County.

Photos are courtesy of Jim Davis of www.pgfdfire.com





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