Officials: Man dies after setting fire to girlfriend, Md. house

WASHINGTON — A man died after he set fire to his girlfriend in her Prince George’s County home Tuesday morning, officials said.

On Tuesday morning, 64-year-old Louis Fedee doused his girlfriend with an ignitable liquid and set her on fire during an argument they were having in the basement of the house in the unit block of Herrington Drive in Upper Marlboro, said Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department spokesman Mark Brady. The fire quickly spread through the basement, engulfing the house.

The victim, who is in her 60s, escaped the burning house with third-degree burn injuries on the upper half of her body, and flagged a group of poll workers at nearby Kettering Middle School, Brady said.

Emergency crews transported the victim and Fedee to area hospitals with critical injuries Tuesday, but Fedee later died as a result of his injuries. The woman is still listed in critical condition as of Wednesday evening.

Officials said Fedee had exited and re-entered the burning residence, and was exiting the house a second time when fire crews found him outside suffering from burn and smoke inhalation injuries.

A Prince George’s County fire fighter sustained burn injuries while fighting the blaze. He was transported to Medstar Washington Hospital Center Burn Unit where he was treated and released later the same day.

Two other people who lived in the house — a woman and an infant — were not home at the time of the fire. Two dogs that escaped the fire were later found and are in the care of a county animal shelter.

The fire caused an estimated $100,000 in damages, Brady said.

Sarah Beth Hensley

Sarah Beth Hensley is the Digital News Director at WTOP. She has worked several different roles since she began with WTOP in 2013 and has contributed to award-winning stories and coverage on the website.

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