Just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, November 27, Truck 1 was dispatched along with units from Co. 834 (Chillum-Adelphi) and surrounding areas for a reported house fire in the 2400 block of Griffen Street.

Truck 1 responded with eight volunteer firefighters, arriving just behind Engine Co. 34 as dispatchers reported possible people trapped in the one-story home in the Lewisdale community.

Truck 1's crew split with interior and exterior crews. The interior crew went in behind the line, beginning an aggressive interior search and quickly locating a six-year-old boy in a bedroom. The child was brought out by the crew to the front, met there by members of Truck 1's exterior team and other fire and EMS units.

Photo by Mark Brady/Prince George's County Fire/EMS

The interior crew returned to search for additional victims. Companies 812 (College Park) and 814 (Berwyn Heights) were also conducting searches, locating two adult victims in rear bedrooms. The victims were taken out of the home via rear windows, where members of Truck 1's exterior team assisted and began rendering emergency medical care along with EMS crews.

Despite the very best efforts of firefighters, paramedics and emergency room staff the young male, 6 years of age, succumbed to his injuries. The two adult females, 30ish and 60ish, were successfully partially resuscitated and have been transferred to a hospital for hyperbaric treatment. This treatment is used in cases of smoke inhalation and will provide the best possible chance of survival for the two females. They remain in “critical” condition. The other occupant, 60ish year old female, was able to escape prior to the arrival of the Fire/EMS Department. She was not injured.

HVFD & Surrounding Companies Return to Community for Outreach

Ten volunteers from the HVFD joined multiple area fire companies to return to the community at about Noon, going door-to-door to check smoke detectors and talk about fire safety and the importance of a home fire escape plan. No working smoke detector was initially found in the Griffen Street home, county officials said. HVFD volunteers went to about 40 homes, testing many smoke detectors and handing out and/or installing a dozen smoke detectors -- including one home where at least six children were living that had no working detectors installed. Many surrounding departments including Chillum-Adelphi, College Park, Chillum and Bladensburg also participated providing a significant impact to spread the importance of fire safety and detectors.

In total, nearly 250 homes were visited, with crews from the companies installing 55 smoke detectors.

It was a busy and tough holiday weekend for HVFD crews, with Sunday's incident the second fatal response of the holiday. On Thanksgiving morning, HVFD units were first arriving at a mass casualty accident in the parking lot of the Home Depot on East West Highway. At least one person was killed and five or more injured when a car struck multiple people in the lot. Details on that incident and video of EMS operations can be found on WJLA.com.

For the holiday weekend, at least 25 HVFD fire and EMS members provided 100% volunteer staffing to the community since Wednesday.

• WJLA.com: Boy, 6, killed in fire in Lewisdale
• PGFD Blog: Lewisdale House Fire - 1 Fatality - 2 in Critical Condition