Dad Crashes Car En Route to Fire, Runs Last Half-Mile

A father who received a call that his townhouse was on fire – with his two children at home – sped to the scene, rolled his car and then ran the last half mile to his kids.

About 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, Prince George’s County firefighters were called to a fire at a two-story, middle-of-the-row townhouse in the 100 block of Old Enterprise Road in the Kettering/Largo area.

Two children who were at home when the fire started smelled smoke and quickly got out of the house. The townhouse did not appear to have working smoke alarms that would have provided an earlier warning, fire officials said.

The children’s father received a cell phone call about the fire and was rushing home when he rolled his vehicle in the intersection of Central Avenue and Enterprise Road. He got out of the vehicle, which was upside down in a ditch, and ran a half-mile to his children.

Medics took the unidentified man to an area hospital with minor injuries and a medical condition triggered possibly from running to the scene.

The family of two adults and two children will be displaced. They will receive some temporary assistance from the County Citizen Services Unit and the American Red Cross.

»Photo of car crashed as father raced to Largo fire scene, courtesy of Prince George’s County Fire Department