A Prince George’s County firefighter was critically injured while fighting an early morning blaze that fire investigators were calling “suspicious.”
The injured firefighter was identified as Daniel McGown, the 21-year-old son of former Deputy Fire Chief William “Bill” McGown. Burn doctors have told fire officials that the next 48 hours will be critical in determining Daniel McGown’s chances for survival.
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“We will continue to pray for his recovery,” said Prince George’s County acting Fire Chief Eugene A. Jones. “The McGowns have a long-standing legacy within our Fire/EMS department and are considered family among us.”
At about 2 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to 87 Herrington Drive in the Kettering section of Largo, where they found a car and carport fully engulfed in flames. The fire had spread to the home, and McGown and other firefighters stormed inside to battle the blaze there.
Minutes later firefighters heard a loud alarm emitting from McGown’s oxygen unit indicating that he was in distress. Two fighters found him unconscious on the first-floor living room and pulled him from the burning home through a window.
McGown, who turns 22 next month, suffered severe burns to his face and head and was immediately transported to the Washington Hospital Center in critical condition. Two other firefighters suffered minor burns and were treated and released from the same burn unit.
Fire investigators are calling the fire “suspicious.”
The three residents of the home, a woman and her two sons, escaped the burning house and were not injured, officials said. One of the sons told WJLA news that the family had been subjected to taunts and harassment, and the tires on one of their vehicles had been slashed. The family believed the car was deliberately set on fire.
McGown, who joined the fire department at age 18, followed in the steps of his father, who served at the agency for 25 years. Bill McGown is now serving as the deputy director of public safety communications. Daniel’s sister, Kimberly McGown Blackistone, is also a firefighter and paramedic with the Prince George’s Fire Department.
