At 0407hrs Ambulance 77 was alerted as the working fire dispatch at 4709 40th Ave, in the Hyattsville section of company 55's first due, for the report of people trapped. Shortly after the engine from 55 arrived on the scene with heavy fire showing. Command quickly asked for the Task Force alarm bringing Engine 73 and Chief 7B to the scene. Chief 7B arrived on the scene and was assigned the operations sector. Engine 73's crew was used to assist in a secondary search, checking for extension, and overhaul. Ambulance 77 transported two patients from the scene of the fire to Children's National Medical Center for smoke inhalation. Company 7 operated on the scene for just under 3 hours before being returned to service.

Even with the valiant effort put in by first arriving units with a quick knock and rapid search and removal of two occupants, they both later succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital. This is but a grim reminder that everybody needs to have smoke detectors on all levels of the home, an excape plan that has at least two ways out of the home, and with a meeting place outside of the home. You should also practice this excape and test your smoke detectors once a month.