Click here For Pictures Of Our Community Awareness Effort After The Fire
 This photo was taken about 15 minutes after firefighters pulled the victim from the second floor window of the house. The equivalent of a 2nd-alarm assignment responded to the blaze. It was the first fatal house fire in Hyattsville's first due in more than six years. |
Despite a valiant rescue by firefighters and efforts by emergency medical crews to revive her, the victim of yesterdayŐs second-alarm equivalent house fire in Hyattsville has died at Washington Hospital CenterŐs MedStar Burn Unit. Maude Blake, 51 of Jamaica, was pronounced dead at 11:33 a.m. from severe smoke inhalation and burns, hospital officials said. Ms. Blake was staying with friends at the house at 6112 42nd Avenue in Hyattsville when the fire broke out Saturday shortly after Noon. Units arrived within two minutes of the 12:06 p.m. call to find heavy fire conditions on the first and second floors and several reports that Ms. Blake was trapped inside. Without the protection of a hoseline, Volunteer Deputy Chief Charles Ryan of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department found Ms. Blake in a second-floor bedroom within several minutes of the fire departmentŐs arrival. Vol. Lt. Marshall Davies, Vol. Sgt. Jeff Werth, Career F/F Mickey Cole and Vol. F/F Chris Hebert, all from the Hyattsville station, assisted Ryan in removing Ms. Blake through a second-floor window onto the roof and down a ladder to awaiting emergency medical crews in front of the house. Ms. Blake was not breathing and had no pulse as crews immediately started CPR on the roof of the house before bringing her down the ladder. County paramedics and emergency medical personnel from the College Park and Hyattsville stations were able to revive Ms. Blake while enroute to Prince GeorgeŐs General Hospital in Cheverly, where she was stabilized and then transferred by helicopter to MedStar Saturday afternoon where she remained in critical condition until she passed away this morning. |
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No injuries to firefighters were reported. A second woman was treated on the scene after being overcome with emotion. She did not require treatment at a hospital.
Prince GeorgeŐs County Fire Investigators have initially listed the cause of the fire as accidental - a iron that ignited combustible materials nearby - and damages at about $45,000 to the structure and its contents, although that figure could rise to above $100,000 according to Chief Vince Harrison of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department. The fire took about 20 minutes to bring under control. Additional units were called to relieve crews due to the intensity of the fire. Approximately 50 firefighters from Hyattsville, Riverdale, Mount Rainer, Cottage City, Brentwood, College Park, Chillum-Adelphi, Berwyn Heights, Branchville, Bladensburg, Silver Spring (Air Unit) and the PGFD responded. Photos by Tom Carter |
 Volunteer Fire Lieutenant Marshall Davies, Volunteer Firefighters Jim Courtney and Jeff Shaw continue overhaul efforts after the fire on 42nd Avenue is extinguished. |
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