A Prince George’s County firefighter has earned a national award for saving a 4-year-old girl during a Hyattsville apartment fire. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has named Capt. George Flanagan III, a firefighter and medic, as the group’s emergency technician of the year for 2010. A Prince George’s County fire and emergency services spokesman said Flanagan is the first member of the department to win the VFW award at the national level.
Flanagan was honored for his efforts during a Feb. 26, 2010, fire at an apartment on the 3200 block of Toledo Place. Flanagan was among the first responders to arrive at the scene of the blaze. Amid thick smoke and flames, he rescued a young girl who was trapped in a rear bedroom of the burning apartment, the fire department said.
Another firefighter located the girl’s father in the apartment, while other crews worked to put out the blaze. The man had suffered severe burns to the majority of his body when firefighters arrived, and died from his injuries.
The girl, however, survived after spending a week in the hospital. She has made a full recovery, the fire department said.
Flanagan said in a statement that he was “honored” to receive the VFW award and called the rescue a “team effort.”
Flanagan is a 10-year veteran of the Prince George’s County fire department. He is now assigned to the Berwyn Heights station, but was working at the Hyattsville station last year.
Flanagan is scheduled to formally receive the award at a ceremony in March.
The recognition is not the first honor he has received for the team’s rescue efforts that day. In October, the team that responded to the blaze received a departmental award for saving the girl’s life.
