MEDIA CONTACT: Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, 240-508-7930
mebrady@co.pg.md.us @PGFDPIO
Prince George's County Fire Chief Marc S. Bashoor updated members of the media and community today in front of the home where an 83-year-old man lost his life on Christmas Eve morning. During his update Bashoor officially released the names of the two deceased individuals from the Christmas Eve fire and also from the one occurring early Christmas morning. Chief Bashoor also announced a "Adopt A Neighborhood" program and an internet based GIS program to track homes that have working smoke alarms and those that need them.
Fire Chief Bashoor was joined by City of Bowie Mayor Fred Robinson, Deputy Fire Chief Ben Barksdale and Jim McClelland and Firefighter/Medics from the Departments 2nd Battalion.
Here are Fire Chief Bashoor's comments from the press conference.
We welcome everyone to a beautiful sunny morning – a sun
that only briefly masks the grief that several families and our Fire/EMS
Department in Prince George’s County have experienced over the past 2 days.
We’re standing in front of this burned out home, where 83
year old Kenneth Sowder lost his life in a Christmas Eve fire. Another occupant of the home smelled the
smoke from the fire – a fire that probably started about 8:15 a.m.. I say probably 8:15, because it took time for
that fire to develop, and for the smoke to make it down to the bedrooms where
both occupants laid. Sadly, there was no
working smoke alarms in this home to give both occupants early notification of
the growing fire. The first calls came
into the 911 Center at 8:30 a.m. – by that time, the fire was already well
advanced. Helped by neighbors, the
female occupant was able to exit the home through a window. Firefighters were able to quickly reach Mr.
Sowder, remove him to the outside, and immediately begin advanced life support
efforts. Sadly, Mr. Sowder succumbed to
injuries from the smoke and fire. Fire
investigators have determined that a space heater too close to combustibles was
the cause of this fire.
Fast forward to Christmas morning, about 2:15 a.m. A working smoke alarm in a duplex on Booker
Drive in Seat Pleasant, awoke 2 sleeping residents. Experiencing very similar circumstances, one
occupant was able to jump out of a top floor window, while that occupant and
neighbors tried valiantly to pull 84-year-old Fannie Kirkland out of another
top floor window – That attempt was complicated by the high windows and an open
staircase inside the home, which unfortunately provides an internal chimney for
heat and smoke to rapidly expand. While
the working smoke alarm gave the residents early warning and extra time to try
and escape, sadly the results on Booker Drive were the same as here on Park
Drive. One occupant was able to escape
through a window, while firefighters were unable to get to 84-year-old Fannie
Kirkland in time – she succumbed to the smoke and fire in an upper floor
bedroom. This fire remains under active
investigation.
Even with these sad events, Prince George’s County has
experienced a 70% reduction in fire fatalities in 2014 over 2013. There is a very sobering statistic though,
that needs immediate attention. Four of
the five fire fatalities this year occurred in residential dwellings where we
found NO WORKING SMOKE ALARMS… let me say that again, 4 out of 5 fire deaths in
the past year occurred in homes where there was NO WORKING SMOKE ALARM. Three of the 4 fatalities have been in single
family homes here in Bowie communities.
Staff and I will be addressing the City of Bowie Council meeting on
January 5 as part of a public education effort.
As Fire Chief, I take each and every one of these fatalities personally
– frankly I approach them partially as a failure of our fire prevention and
fire safety public education efforts, not that we did anything wrong, but we obviously need to do more. We
should be at ZERO.
While the 4 out of 5 fatalities in homes with NO WORKING
SMOKE ALARM is a sobering statistic, we have also documented over 3 dozen
instances in 2014, where working smoke alarms have successfully alerted
residents to a fire in their home – 9 of those instances actually awoke
residents from a deep sleep. On December
21st, the Rojas family was alerted to a fire in their Bunker Hill home by their
smoke alarm – all 4 family members escaped unharmed. In fact, until the tragic Booker Drive
incident, EVERY ONE of those alerted by those smoke alarms in 2014 was able to
escape uninjured. Despite Mrs. Kirklands
tragic death, the early notification those smoke alarms provided is a success
story that every resident listening to me today, should take to heart.
Prince George’s County enacted legislation in 1982 that
REQUIRES smoke alarms in every residential dwelling unit. Further, in 1987, Prince George’s County
enacted legislation that requires residential sprinklers in all new homes. The smoke alarm legislation was retro-active
to ALL homes, the sprinkler legislation only affected new homes or major
renovations moving forward. The Prince
George’s County Fire/EMS Department has some of the best fire prevention
legislation in the United States, however we continue to have fire fatalities
in homes that we find unprotected.
We have wonderful corporate relationships with PEPCO, KIDDE,
& FIRST ALERT along with others, who donate smoke alarms and carbon
monoxide detectors to the Department annually.
Our firefighters and paramedics, operating out of 45 neighborhood
fire/EMS stations come out to homes and install these alarms FREE of charge – we
KNOW that working smoke alarms save lives, but clearly we need to do more.
Today, as a direct result of this fire and the others like
it, I am announcing a renewed effort within our Safe Families Program. While Firefighters and paramedics will be
going door-to-door after this press conference here in this community, and this
afternoon in the Booker Drive community as part of our Post Incident
Neighborhood Intervention Program (PINIP), as neighbors within these
communities, we can NOT let the effort stop when we leave these two communities
today. As part of the
Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors initiative, I am calling on all of our
neighborhoods to help us out – the Fire/EMS Department can NOT do this alone.
We are developing a new Adopt-A-Neighborhood effort where we
will ask neighborhood businesses to step up and help us fund the smoke alarm
and carbon monoxide detector effort. The
Fire/EMS Department will track the Neighborhood efforts, with a web-GIS based
program that will verify homes have been properly equipped and tested. The Fire/EMS Department will continue to
install the alarms (as long as we have a supply), free of charge to those who
are unable to afford their own. If you
have a detector or alarm and just need a little help putting it up or checking
it, call 311 and we will come put it up the same day that we receive the
information. The Adopt-A-Neighborhood
effort will endeavor to develop improved fire prevention and public education
efforts, using the both paid and volunteer members of our Fire/EMS Department
who already operate in our neighborhoods.
We will not just come and go – we will remain in the neighborhood until
all homes are protected, and we will develop lasting
Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors efforts that will ultimately improve everyone’s
safety.
I am pleased to announce the first business who has stepped
up to Adopt–A-Neighborhood. The
International Association of Firefighters and Paramedics, Local 1619, whose
corporate offices are located on Melford Boulevard at the entrance to this
neighborhood, has agreed to adopt the Sherwood Manor neighborhood. The Local will work with the Department to
identify funding to ensure every home in this neighborhood is safer.
I am challenging any business, municipality, 501c3, or other
business entity within our neighborhoods to step up and participate in this
program. I said it before, it bears
repeating… Your Fire/EMS Department can NOT do this alone, and it is clear that
our neighborhoods need help. Any
business or neighborhood entity willing to become a partner in the program is
urged to call the following number; 301-864-SAFE (7233). As we develop the mechanisms to track the
information and expand our Adopt-A-Neighborhood program, I am confident that we
will experience a safer Prince George’s County.
President of the Prince George's County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association, IAFF Local 1619, Andrew Pantelis spoke on his organizations commitment to ensuring homes are equipped with working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Pantelis challenged other organizations and businesses to step and join the program that will save lives.
After the press conference firefighter/medics started their door-to-door campaign to talk with residents about the Park Drive incident, check smoke alarms, offer advice on homes escape plans and provide general fire safety information.
Firefighters will also conduct a PINIP in the Capitol Heights neighborhood on Booker Drive this afternoon at 4:00 pm.
2014 FATAL FIRES
14-042-0241
2/11/2014 (Tuesday @17:00)
18151 Horsehead Road, Brandywine ,MD 20613
Thomas, Mathew Joseph - 75 y/o
Trailer Fire – Undetermined cause, complete structural
failure – Smoke alarm not found
$5,000
14-148-0399
5/28/2014 (Wednesday @ 22:15)
6410 Grendel Place, Bowie, MD 20720
Raymond, John Collins - 65 y/o
House Fire – Undetermined cause, significant structure
damage –No working smoke alarm found
$200,000
14-341-0402
12/7/2014 (Sunday @ 22:00)
13105 11th Street
Weyzen, Robert Walter - 26 y/o
House Fire – Accidental (Candle) – Had alarm but not working
$20,000
14-358-0083
12/24/2014 (Wednesday @ 08:30)
5710 Park Drive
Sowder, Kenneth - 83 y/o
House Fire – Accidental (Space heater too close to
combustibles) – No working smoke alarm found
$100,000
14-359-0042
12/25/2014 (Thursday @ 02:15)
915 Booker Drive
Kirkland, Fannie Bell - 84 (corrected - originally reported age 87)
House (Duplex) Fire – Undetermined/Under Investigation – Working
Alarm alerted occupants
$75,000
 |
| A 2nd Battalion Firefighter/Medic installs a 10-year smoke alarm in a home on Park Drive in Bowie |
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