Raw video: House burns in College Park, Maryland. Snow keeps firefighters busy.
Slideshow from WUSA9.com
Read PGFD press release on four house fires
The storm that hit the Washington, DC area yesterday kept fire departments busy. Roads were clogged with abandoned cars during what WTOP Radio reporter Bob Marbourg called an “unprecedented” evening rush hour Wednesday. Emergency crews were having difficulty not just with the snow and ice, but getting around the traffic and stalled vehicles. Wires down and power failures added to the work load for fire and EMS. In addition, there were a number of fires in homes without electricity.
The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department had four such house fires between 10:30 last night and 5:30 this morning. In one, a fire at a Glenn Dale home, firefighters rescued a woman from a second floor window.
The video on this page is from a house fire in College Park. Here are details from a press release by PGFD’s Chief Spokesman Mark Brady:
At about 5:30 am, firefighters from the College Park area were alerted to a house fire in the 5000 block of Pierce Avenue. Fire/EMS units arrived quickly to find a 1-story single family home with fire showing from the basement. An interior attack by firefighters on the fire was in progress when a partial collapse of the first floor occurred. Personnel immediately evacuated the structure and were accounted for and deemed OK by incident commanders. An exterior attack continued on the fire which had now extended up to the first floor. The family was alerted to the basement fire by a working smoke alarm. All occupants escaped the home safely prior to the fire departments arrival. The cause of the fire is attributed to a fireplace in the basement, This home was without power due to the winter storm on Wednesday. Fire loss is estimated at $140,000.
