MEDIA CONTACT: Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, 240-508-7930
Four occupants were rescued and five firefighters and one
civilian were injured during a 2-alarm fire in Temple Hills Thursday
night. At around 10:00 pm, Thursday,
August 30, Prince George’s County Firefighter/Medics were alerted to an
apartment fire at 3317 Huntley Square Drive in Temple Hills. Fire/EMS units arrived to find a fire in a
terrace level apartment of a 3-story (front) 4-story (rear) garden style
condominium building.
One team of firefighters started to position themselves with
hose lines to initiate an attack on the fire as other firefighters went to the
upper floors to search for trapped occupants.
A sudden rush of superheated air escaped from the burning apartment consuming the
stairwell where firefighters were still positioning themselves. The intense heat and smoke filled the
stairwell and hallways injuring firefighters and blocking egress for those on the upper floors.
Firefighters regrouped to advanced hose lines into the
burning apartment, as firefighters performing search and rescue on the upper
floors were forced to shelter-in place with four occupants, found during the
search, unable to escape via the stairwell.
One firefighter located an adult female occupant in the
apartment directly above the unit on fire.
She had sustained burns to her lower extremities and her apartment was
charged with thick toxic smoke. Unable
to escape via the stairwell he sheltered-in-place and called for help on his radio. The firefighter removed his face piece that
provides him fresh breathing air and placed in on the face of the female. The firefighter radioed his position to
incident commanders and requested immediate assistance. The firefighter and the female then took
turns taking breaths of fresh air from the face piece. A few moments later the firefighter radioed
that his air was running low just as other firefighters arrived to assist him and
the female out of the apartment. The
female was transported to the Burn Unit and has been admitted. The firefighter was transported to a local hospital
where he was admitted overnight for treatment of heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. He has since been released this morning. Both are expected to fully recover.
Three other occupants were removed from the building by firefighters from their upper floor apartments. There were no injuries to these occupants or
firefighters during the rescues.
There were four firefighters that sustained minor burn
injuries from the rush of superheated air while in the stairwell. They were transported to the Burn Unit at
Medstar Washington Hospital Center. They
were all treated and released last night.
During the height of the incident with firefighters
sustaining injuries and numerous rescues in progress, incident commanders requested a Second Alarm and additional EMS resources to the scene. There were about 65 personnel operating on the scene.
The fire in the terrace apartment was extinguished within 20
minutes. Fire Investigators determined
the cause of the fire was “accidental” and attributed to unattended
cooking. Fire loss is estimated at
$25,000. Cooking, most notably
unattended cooking, is the leading cause of fires and fire related injuries in Prince
Georges County and throughout the Country.
There were 7 condominium units that were declared
uninhabitable. 12 adults and 4 children
occupy those 7 units. They were assisted
on the scene by the County Citizen Services Unit and declined Red Cross
assistance, as they will make their own temporary living arrangements.
MEDIA NOTE - Audio tapes of the rescue will be released later today and a request has been made to see if the firefighter is able to be interviewed.
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