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First Responders Save Couple in House Fire with Swift Rescue

THE AFRO — Prince George’s County Fire Department first responders helped avoid a tragedy.

Published

5 years ago

February 24, 2019

By Mark F. Gray

Prince George’s County Fire Department first responders helped avoid a tragedy when a blaze engulfed a home forcing a dangerous but successful rescue effort in District Heights on Feb. 17.

Firefighters from the District Heights Fire/EMS Station 826 responded to a call during the late evening hours after a house fire was reported in the Boulevard Heights community around 10 pm. The single-family home in the 4000 block of Byers Street was engulfed in flames with its residents trapped inside, according to a report from the County’s Fire Department.

When the fire fighting teams arrived on the scene, they were met with by a raging blaze featuring heavy flames from a fire that apparently started in a detached shed next to the home, which ultimately moved into the main living quarters. Residents in the building previously heard screaming in terror as law enforcement representatives arrived and tried to enter but were blocked by thick smoke and the heat from the fire’s intensity that forced them to wait for their counterparts from the fire department.

The unsuccessful rescue attempt by the police officer who initially replied, led to acquiring critical information that was vital to the efforts of the firefighters who reached the scene shortly thereafter. Firefighters, who collaborated with the officer once they reached the incident, learned there were residents inside that were trapped which prompted the swift rescue effort.

According to the Fire Department’s report, the information provided the by the police office gave them a projected timeline they used to initiate an aggressive rescue attempt. One male and another female occupant were in perilous situations on separate areas of the second floor inside the single family dwelling forcing different attempts to bring them both to safety.

“The crew knew that time was of the essence as heat and smoke continued to build up in the house,” recounts the incident report provided by Prince George’s County Fire Department spokesman Mark E. Brady. “The crew split up and deployed a charged hose line to initiate extinguishment of the fire and allow access to the interior stairwell. Two other crewmembers, including a firefighter and the crew officer, in full personal protective equipment, ascended the stairwell following the screams for help.”

Despite the quick reaction time by first responders to the scene, the fire’s swift movement forced the firefighter’s into a fast paced effort to avoid any fatalities. Station 826’s team simultaneously worked to contain and extinguish the flames while bring the couple to safety.

“All the firefighters did an excellent job on the rescue and extinguishing the fire,” Firefighter/Medic Lieutenant Kris Demattia, the officer-in-charge, said in the statement. “Two more minutes and the outcome could have been very different.”

One man and a woman were rescued as efforts to contain the fire continued by following the shrieks for help. Two firefighters entered the flaming house as their search for the endangered residents began. However, the rescue may not have been successful if a stairwell hadn’t been temporarily secured by the firefighters operating the water hose lines.

The male occupant was swiftly found near the top of the stairwell and taken to safety through the home’s interior stairwell. The remaining firefighter stayed on the second floor and continued his search to quickly locate an adult female in a bedroom. That firefighter carried her to safety, by using the stairwell also.

It required about 20 minutes to completely extinguish the fire.

The Fire Marshal officially listed the cause of the fire undetermined as the investigation continues. The fire loss is estimated at $25,000 and no additional injuries.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Activism

WOMEN IMPACTING THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Published

21 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Juanita Matthews

Sister Juanita Matthews

55 Years with Oakland Public School District

The Teacher, Mother, Community Outreach Champion, And Child of God

Juanita Matthews, better known as “Sister Teacher,” is a walking Bible scholar. She moved to California from the great state of Arkansas in 1971. Sister Teacher has a passion for teaching. She has been a member of Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church since 1971. She followed her passion for teaching, and in 1977 became the lead teacher for Adult Class #6. Her motto still today is “Once My Student, Always My Student”.

Beyond her remarkable love for the Lord, Sister Teacher has showcased her love for teaching by working for the Oakland Unified School District for 55 years, all but four of those years spent at Emerson Elementary and Child Development School. She truly cares about her students, making sure they have the tools/supplies needed to learn either at OUSD or Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

She’s also had a “Clothes Closet Ministry” for 51 years, making sure her students have sufficient clothing for school. The Clothes Closet Ministry extends past her students, she has been clothing the community for over 50 years as well. She loves the Lord and is a servant on a mission. She is a loving mother to two beautiful children, Sandra and Andre. This is the impact this woman of God has on her church and the community.

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Bay Area

Vivian Coit, 98

Vivian Coit, a proud Dallas, Texas native made her way to the great state of California in 1943. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother.

Published

21 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Vivian Coit

Celebrating A Life Well Lived

Sept. 15, 1925 ~ March 30, 2024

Vivian Coit, a proud Dallas, Texas native made her way to the great state of California in 1943. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother.

In her 98 years, she had various jobs – San Francisco Naval Shipyard, elevator operator, housekeeping, a salesclerk, and supervisor for the United States Postal Service. After 27 years of service with the United States Postal Service, she retired with numerous commendations. She was a lifetime member of the National Council of Negro Women. and a devoted member of the Washington/Lincoln Alumni Association of Dallas, Texas.

On April 20 at 10:00 a.m., a life well-lived will be celebrated at Beebe Memorial Cathedral CME Church, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA under the leadership of Rev. Antoine Shyne.

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Commentary

Opinion: Surviving the Earthquake, an Eclipse and “Emil Amok.”

Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City, reported as the “biggest earthquake with an epicenter in the NYC area since 1884” when a 5.2 quake hit. A bit bigger. The last quake similar to Friday’s was a 4.9 in 1783.Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago. That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

Published

21 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

In New York City, the eclipse was about 90 percent visible. Good enough for me. Though a full solar eclipse is a celestial rarity, blockages of any sort aren’t generally celebrated. My one-man play is about growing up with the eclipsed history of American Filipinos and how I struggle to unblock all that.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m a Northern Californian in New York City for the next few weeks, doing my one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”

I must like performing in the wake of Mother Nature.

Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago.

That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

And it just doesn’t happen that often.

Beyonce singing country music happens more frequently.

When I felt New York shake last week, it reminded me of a time in a San Francisco TV newsroom when editors fretted about a lack of news an hour before showtime.

Then the office carpeting moved for a good ten seconds, and the news gods gave us our lead story.

On Friday when it happened in NYC, I noticed the lines in the carpeting in my room wiggling. But I thought it was from a raucous hotel worker vacuuming nearby.

I didn’t even think earthquake. In New York?

I just went about my business as if nothing had happened. After living near fault lines all my life, I was taking things for granted.

Considering the age of structures in New York, I should have been even more concerned about falling objects inside (shelves, stuff on walls) and outside buildings (signs, scaffolding), fire hazards from possible gas leaks, and then I should have looked for others on my floor and in the hotel lobby to confirm or aid or tell stories.

Of course, as a Californian who has lived through and covered quakes in the 4 to 6 magnitude range, I tried to calm down any traumatized New Yorker I encountered by taking full responsibility for bringing in the quake from the Bay Area.

I reassured them things would be all right, and then let them know that 4.8s are nothing.

And then I invited them to my consoling post-Earthquake performance of “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…”

It was the night of the eclipse.

ECLIPSING THE ECLIPSE

For example, did you know the first Filipinos actually arrived to what is now California in 1587? That’s 33 years before the Pilgrims arrived in America on the other coast, but few know the Filipino history which has been totally eclipsed.

I was in Battery Park sitting on a bench and there was a sense of community as people all came to look up. A young woman sitting next to me had a filter for a cell phone camera. We began talking and she let me use it. That filter enabled me to take a picture of the main event with my iPhone.

For helping me see, I invited her and her boyfriend to come see my show.

Coincidentally, she was from Plymouth, Massachusetts, near the rock that says the year the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

In my show she learned the truth. The Pilgrims were second.

History unblocked. But it took a solar eclipse.

Next one in 2044? We have a lot more unblocking to do.

If you’re in New York come see my show, Sat. April 13th, 5:20 pm Eastern; Fri. April 19, 8:10 pm Eastern; and Sun. April 21st 5:20 pm Eastern.

You can also livestream the show. Get tickets at www.amok.com/tickets

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. He wishes all his readers a Happy Easter!