WASHINGTON — Two volunteer firefighters have been indicted for assaulting a career firefighter at the scene of a blaze in Prince George’s County a year ago.
The indictment, announced Tuesday, stems from an incident on Dec. 8, 2015, when officials say Jeffry Miller and Chris Kelly — both members of Volunteer Company 28 — fought with a career firefighter unit over who should go inside a fire in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Career Company 30 was the first on the scene of the fire, but Kelly — who was not fully geared up — blocked the door so members of the career company could not go in before members of the volunteer company, said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.
Kelly and a career firefighter were involved in a struggle on the front porch, and Kelly hit the career firefighter, knocking her off the porch. The career firefighter tried to enter the home again, and Miller grabbed her and pulled her off the porch, Alsobrooks said.
Police responded and separated the firefighters.
Alsobrooks called the actions of Kelly and Miller “reckless, irresponsible and uncalled for,” and said “their main responsibility was to help anyone in need and extinguish the fire, not argue over who goes inside first.”
Miller and Kelly were indicted on multiple counts of second-degree assault, interfering with a firefighter and misconduct in office. The initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
