PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A couple married for 20 years has died in an early-morning house fire in Prince George's County, firefighters say. Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the blaze. The couple was supposed to go on a cruise on Sunday, according to family.
Firefighters with the Prince George's County Fire Department responded to the 5500 block of Ruxton Drive in Lanaham just before 2 a.m. on Friday. Once on scene, firefighters found a two-story split foyer home engulfed in flames.
Crews worked quickly to extinguish the blaze, but a search inside the home found two people, identified by family members as James and Aurielia Cannon-Bey, dead inside the home.
One other person was able to get out of the house safely.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Family who spoke to WUSA9 said an uncle who lived in the basement of the home accidently lit a sheet on fire, which spread to a mattress. James Cannon-Bey went downstairs to try to help. When he went back upstairs to get his wife, they never made it out, family said.
There is no word yet whether the home had working smoke alarms.
Sky9 was over the scene of the house fire Friday morning. Here's what it looked like:
Local fire crews offer the following tips to stay safe in a house fire:
- Have an escape plan for your home.
- Have an outside meeting place
- Practice home fire drills twice a year
- Teach children to escape on their own
- Close doors behind you as you leave
This is a developing story. We are working to gather additional details. Stay with WUSA9 for the latest updates as they come in to our newsroom.