According to a report from The Washington Post, three young girls, ages 1, 6, and 9, and a dog were killed in a Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, house fire early Monday morning that also left an adult hospitalized in critical condition. One firefighter also suffered minor burns and was hospitalized.
The names of the victims were not made available.
Prince George’s County (MD) Fire/EMS Department officials are still investigating the cause of the fire that erupted at around 2 a.m. in the 2400 block of Iverson Street.
Department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan said firefighters arrived to find most of the home engulfed in flames, but people were attempting to reenter. She said she did not know the identities of the people attempting to help others inside the home.
Officials said two of the children were rescued by firefighters from the second floor of the townhouse and later died at a hospital. One child was found dead inside on the first floor of the house, authorities said.
Two adults and another child escaped the home on their own. Another adult, who got out before responders arrived, was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Donelan said an initial investigation did not find any suspicious cause, but are looking at whether there were working smoke detectors in the home or not.
Later in the afternoon, firefighters went door-to-door to see if area residents had working smoke alarms. For those who did not, the firefighters installed one alarm per home, equipped with a 10-year battery. By 3 p.m. 40 smoke alarms had been installed, according to Donelan.
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