WASHINGTON — A woman is dead after a fire erupted in her Chillum, Maryland, home Saturday morning.
The house is located on Ray Road.
Officials said neighbors had noticed smoke coming from the house and called 911 around 7:45 a.m., indicating that the house belonged to an elderly woman.
By the time firefighters got to the scene just minutes later, the woman was dead.
“They found the fire on the first floor. It was quickly extinguished,” said Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS. “A female was located on the first floor and she was deceased.”
Investigators spent the morning talking with neighbors and searching the home, but preliminary findings show nothing suspicious so far.
“She was awesome,” said Regina Ward, who grew up next door to the victim.
Ward also said the woman was “strong as an ox,” as she mowed her own lawn and shoveled her own snow.
“She had a routine … Every day, she would walk around the neighborhood,” Ward said. “Every day, she would check on everybody … You could depend on her for everything. Just a very great person all around.”
This would be the eighth fatal fire in Prince George’s County in 2018, after seeing a total of five in all of 2017.
WTOP’s John Domen contributed to this report.
