On location of Chillum house fire pic.twitter.com/l2tQ108Fw5
— Mark Brady (@PGFDPIO) January 19, 2016LIVE on #Periscope: Media briefing by @Pgfd_Chief on the fatal house fire on Knollbrook Dr in Chillum 7 am Briefing https://t.co/xFNMm8CPFa
— Mark Brady (@PGFDPIO) January 19, 2016
Every home gets something. Either free smoke alarm or Fire Safety info @PGFDNews @RedCrossNCR @PaulNCRARC #WTOP pic.twitter.com/gh3TJx2tr5
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) January 19, 2016Mult tool box/smoke alarm install kits being put to work by @RedCrossNCR @PGFDNews after 4fatal Chillum fire #WTOP pic.twitter.com/GK9ZIbnYTO
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) January 19, 2016Lots of FREE smoke alarms installed in region *yest* @PaulNCRARC sz. AM fire in Chillum kills4 @RedCrossNCR #WTOP pic.twitter.com/GjfBUKWnQ2
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) January 19, 2016Baxter Hubbard of Hyattsville felt compelled to bring flowers for 2yr old Anna & Israel Omijie + GrParents #WTOP pic.twitter.com/oy36VFPU3z
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) January 19, 2016
CHILLUM, Md. — Twin toddlers and their grandparents were killed in a house fire early Tuesday in Chillum, Maryland.
Firefighters in Prince George’s County were called just after 2 a.m. to the house at 6720 Knollbrook Drive, near Conley Road off Highway 410.
When they arrived, smoke and fire was coming out of every window and door on all sides, the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department says. Residents out front said that people were trapped inside.
Seven people were inside the house when the fire broke out, according to Prince George’s County Fire spokesman Mark Brady.
“Initial reports indicated somebody could still be inside that house, and firefighters did go inside and locate four people,” he says.
He says 2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and their grandparents were pulled from the home with critical injuries and later died.
The twins have been identified as Anna and Israel Omijie. Both were taken to a local hospital and were pronounced dead shortly after, Fire Chief Marc Bashoor says.
The children’s grandmother has been identified as 55-year-old Caroline Omogbo, who was pronounced dead on the scene. Bashoor says the children’s grandfather, 63-year-old Samson Omogbo, was found dead inside the house.
The twins’ mother was hurt jumping from a second-floor window to escape. Bashoor says she was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Two other members of the family escaped unhurt.
“The family was renting this home,” Bashoor says. “I am sorry to say that there is, so far, no evidence of a smoke alarm in the home.”
“In addition to the cold, we have frozen ladders, a frozen hose, firefighters that have ice hanging off of them,” Bashoor says.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Preliminary investigation suggests there is “no evidence of anything suspicious,” Bashoor says.
The cost of damage is estimated to be around $250,000.
“There’s one other fact today that makes this an especially poignant day, and that is that this is the one-year anniversary of the Annapolis fire, where four children and their grandparents perished in the fire, so it’s going to be a rough day for the firefighters that are here,” Bashoor says.
Firefighters and Red Cross workers returned to the neighborhood Tuesday afternoon to check and install free smoke alarms as well as communicate fire safety tips.
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
