Cause of fire, victim IDs released in fatal Glenarden fire

The Leslie Avenue home where the fire occurred is a single-story home with a basement. (WTOP/John Aaron)
About 75 firefighters battled the blaze in Glenarden, Md. (WTOP/John Aaron)
Three people - a man and two girls -- died shortly after arriving at the hospital. They had been trapped in the home in the 8600 block of Leslie Avenue in Glenarden. (WTOP/John Aaron)
When firefighters arrived, there was fire and heavy smoke coming from the Glenarden home and four people were trapped inside. (PGFD/Mark Brady)
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UPDATE: Saturday – 2/23/2013, 12:35pm ET

WASHINGTON – Prince George’s County Fire says a fourth victim has died.

Daijah Price, 11, died late Friday night after being transferred to Children’s National Medical Center once her pulse was restored. She was originally taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center Thursday morning.

Price’s mother and 8-year-old sister were treated at a local hospital. Prince George’s County fire officials say they have both been released.

UPDATE: Friday – 2/22/2013, 4:28pm ET

WASHINGTON – Prince George’s County Fire has released the preliminary cause of a house fire that killed three and injured three. They say the cause was electrical in nature and was accidental.

They have also released the identities of the three killed family members:

  • Darrell Terrance Price Jr., 36
  • Tania Monae Jeanita Price, 8
  • Patrice Price, 4

An 11-year-old girl is in critical condition, with officials saying her prognosis for recovery is not favorable.

A 33-year-old female and 8-year-old girl (twin sister to Tania) remain in the hospital with smoke inhalation and other minor injuries.

Officials estimate the fire caused $100,000 in damage.

EARLIER: Thursday – 2/21/2013, 4:57pm ET

GLENARDEN, Md. – There was no working smoke detector in the home where a father and two girls died in an early morning fire, investigators say.

A third child pulled from the flames is fighting for her life and two other people in the home are injured.

Volunteer firefighters pulled a man and three girls — ages 11, 8 and 4 — from the burning home in Glenarden just after 4 a.m. Thursday.

The 36-year-old father, 8 and 4-year-old girls died before arriving at the hospital, says Mark Brady, Prince George’s County Fire and EMS spokesperson.

EMS crews were able to resuscitate the 11-year-old girl.

“So far, that child is still in grave condition,” Prince George’s Fire Chief Marc Bashoor said Thursday morning.

As the fire roared on the first floor of the house, the 33-year-old mother and an 8-year-old girl, a twin, were able to jump to safety from a second floor window of the home. They were injured in the jump, but are in stable condition, responders tell WTOP.

They met firefighters in the front yard and either they or neighbors told responders there were other people trapped in home, Bashoor says.

“For at least one of the victims, they were told where to look. And they were able to go find them exactly where they were told to look. The others were from a search,” Bashoor says.

One firefighter is being treated for second-degree burns to his ears from fighting the flames. An EMS worker was transported to the hospital after slipping on ice created by the water from the fire trucks, Bashoor says.

The fire broke out in the 8600 block of Leslie Avenue in Glenarden, Md. Investigators are still looking for a cause of the fire, but say they believe it was accidental.

“I can tell you a smoke alarm would have given them an extra measure of chance I can tell you they didn’t have,” Bashoor says.

It took 75 EMS workers and firefighters from Kentland Station 833 and an additional fire task force a half hour to control the fire.

So far this year, eight people have died in a fire in Prince George’s County. There were 10 fire-related deaths in 2012, according to Bashoor.

This story has been modified to correct the ages of two of the girls and say that 75 fire and EMS workers were at the scene.

WTOP’s John Aaron and Colleen Kelleher contributed to this report. Follow @JohnAaronWTOP @WTOP on Twitter.

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