Prince George’s County firefighters faced a real-life “backdraft” when a ball of fire blew out windows and tossed men like rags if they were standing too close to a burning house in Mitchellville, authorities said.

Firefighters were called to the house at 2304 Prima Way in the Country Club Estates subdivision around 8:45 p.m. Sunday. A person who saw the flames leaping from the attached garage called 911, saying three people might be trapped inside the two-story single-family home, fire department spokesman Mark Brady said.