House Fire in Hillmeade Station Sends Firefighter to Hospital

A Prince George’s County Firefighter was injured while battling a house fire in Bowie Monday evening.

Firefighters from Bowie, Glenn Dale and surrounding departments were alerted for fire coming from a house just after 6:00 p.m.  in the 12600 block of Hillmeade Station Drive in the Hillmeade community of Bowie.

First arriving units reported heavy fire on all floors and fire through the roof of a one and a half story dwelling. With heavy fire conditions throughout the house firefighters aggressively attacked the fire.

Prior to firefighters arriving on the scene several neighbors attempted to extinguish the fire using garden hoses, but the fire had already spread and was too large.

It took about 40 minutes to bring the fire under control, according to a release from the Prince George's County Fire Department. At the time of the fire the house was vacant.

As firefighters fought the blaze, part of the first floor collapsed, causing one of the career firefighters from to fall through as the hole opened, according to Glenn Locker, a spokesperson for the Bowie Volunteer Fire Department. An on-scene safety officer investigated the break, and the firefighter was able to complete his duties before being taken to a local hospital for a check-up, then being released.

Fire Investigators were called to the scene to determine  the cause of the fire, and the cost of the damages is still being tabluated.  

UPDATE 1:06 p.m. - The firefighter is doing fine, was treated and released from the hospital yesterday. While the cause of the fire is still being investigated, preliminary estimates of the damages total about $200,000, according to a release from Major Erroll George.

Editor's Note: The story was changed to reflect updated information about the time of the fire and clarification was made about the injured firefighter.