At about 8:15 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2009, Firefighters from the Upper Marlboro area were alerted to a house fire with a report of a person trapped. Fire/EMS units responded to 10200 Old Indian Head Road and arrived to find heavy fire showing from a 1-story, with basement, single family home. First arriving firefighters made several valiant attempts in entering the burning home and search for the trapped victim, however, were forced to retreat due to the rapidly deteriorating and unsafe conditions. Heavy fire had consumed one half of the structure and was quickly extending throughout the remainder.
Incident Commanders ordered firefighters to evacuate the now well involved structure and shortly afterwards a partial collapse occurred. A natural gas line broke inside during the firefight allowing a release of product that, at that point, had no impact in searching for the victim or extinguishing the fire.
There were 35 firefighters on the scene that required about 30 minutes to knock down the bulk of the fire from an exterior defensive position. Firefighters re-entered the structure and soon located a deceased individual. The identity of the deceased will need to be determined by the Medical Examiner. An adult female, 74 years-of-age, normally occupies the home by herself.
Prince George's County Fire Investigators and the County Police Department Homicide Unit are conducting a joint investigation into this fire and death. The joint investigation is normal and standard operating procedure whenever a death occurs as a result of a fire. The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation. Fire loss is estimated at $250,000. There were no other injuries, civilian or firefighters, reported.
