WASHINGTON — A Deale, Md., family had to make a series of split decisions Sunday that ended up saving the lives of two young children and a grandmother.
According to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, a family of nine was sleeping in their Tracys Landing home when their smoke detectors went off around 4:30 a.m. Due to the encroaching flames, two children, ages two and three, had to be thrown out of the second floor window to awaiting family members and neighbors below.
Also trapped on the second floor was a 58-year-old grandmother, who was forced to jump, sustaining a serious, but not life threatening injury. She was transported to Shock Trauma in Baltimore via the Maryland State Police Medevac.
Lieutenant Jackson with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said that when his units arrived, the two-story colonial style house was fully engulfed in flames. The area is non-hydrant equipped, so fire crews used underground tanks and water shuttles to control the blaze, which took about an hour. Suburban Propane was called to the scene to secure an underground propane tank.
The five adults and four children living there have been displaced; the Red Cross was requested to the scene.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
