Retired Firefighter, Dog Save Bowie Woman from Burning Home

A disabled woman was saved from her burning home in Bowie this morning by a retired Prince George’s County firefighter and her faithful black lab, according to Prince George’s County Fire Department Spokesperson Mark Brady.

Firefighters from the Bowie Pointer Ridge Station responded to a call of a person trapped in a burning home on Pond Meadow Lane at around 10 a.m. this morning.

According to Brady, retired Fire Lt. Billy Mills was in the Pointer Ridge area when he saw smoke and suspected a structure fire. He followed the smoke and arrived on the scene at the same time as firefighters to find the two-story residence in the 16300 block of Pond Meadow Lane with heavy fire and smoke showing.

Mills went around to the back of the house to perform a “360 check” of the structure to asses the fire and found a black lab that was “frantically scurrying about the backyard,” according to Brady. When the dog saw Mills, it went to the sliding glass doors where said it began barking continuously while looking inside the home.

When Mills looked through the doors he saw a woman on her knees unable to move. He went into the house and pulled the woman, who had already sustained smoke and burn injuries, into the back yard, said Brady. Mills and a neighbor, former volunteer fire chief Hugh Owens, carried the woman to the front of the home where she received medical attention was was transported to a burn unit.

The woman's injuries were not life threatening, a credit to the actions of Mills and the family dog, said Brady.

According to Brady, firefighters entered the home to extinguish the flames, but due to hoarder conditions, they had to evacuate the structure and knock down the bulk of the flames from the exterior. Once conditions permitted, firefighters re-entered the home and extinguished the rest of the fire.

The cause of the fire and fire losses are still under investigation, said Brady, but the home has been determined to be unsafe and unlivable.