Update: the 2-year-old girl remains in critical condition. The 9-year-old boy was treated and released from the hospital. Prince George’s Police Officers were also involved in rescuing people from the fire. One officer assisted in positioning a ladder at the bedroom window to help rescue the toddler, and other police officers helped remove a mobility challenged occupant in an adjacent townhouse.
A 2-year-old girl was taken to a hospital in critical condition early Friday morning after being rescued from a townhouse fire in District Heights, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS officials said.
Firefighters and paramedics were notified of a townhouse fire with a child trapped at about 1:45 a.m. Friday. When Fire/EMS units arrived at the house at 6135 Hil-Mar Drive in District Heights, they saw heavy fire on the first floor with some fire extension and heavy smoke on the second floor, officials said.
Before the fire department arrived, three adults and one child had escaped the house, but a 2-year old girl couldn’t initially be rescued and remained in a second-floor bedroom, officials said. While firefighters from District Heights started to attack the fire, a fire crew from Silver Hill used ground ladders to get into a bedroom, found the girl and took her out of the house down a ladder.
The girl wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse, officials said. CPR was performed on her before paramedics took her to a local hospital in critical condition. The hospital told paramedics after the toddler arrived that her pulse was restored and that plans were being made to transfer her to Children’s National Medical Center.
A 9-year-old was also taken to a local hospital to have smoke-related injuries evaluated. A firefighter who suffered minor injuries was taken to the burn unit at Washington Hospital Center, and he is expected to be treated and released Friday morning, officials said.
The fire was put out within 15 minutes of the Fire/EMS units’ arrival. It appears to have started in the kitchen area, but the cause is under invstigation, officials said.
