LARGO, Md. — Two people are dead and a child is in critical condition at the hospital after a large fire at an apartment in Largo Tuesday morning.
Prince George's County firefighters were called to the Northampton Apartment Homes on Harry S. Truman Drive just before 4 a.m. for a report of a fire. When crews got to the scene, they saw flames shooting from the roof of the building. A second alarm was called to bring more firefighters to the scene Tuesday morning.
Responding firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames. A search of the third-floor apartment found a man and a boy inside. Both were taken to the hospital where the man was pronounced dead. The boy is in critical condition in the hospital, according to Alan Doubleday, a spokesperson for the fire department. Crews were also able to rescue a dog from the apartment.
Later, fire crews conducted a second search of the apartment and found a female dead. Firefighters say the second person is an adult, but additional details have not yet been made public.
Family members identified the man who died in the blaze as Andre King also known as Nate.
Marilyn Blackwell, a close family friend who says she is like an aunt to King broke down at the scene when she got the news.
"I was watching the news and it said a man was found, and then I was like oh no. So I called the brother and just now he said that's him because he identified him because of his tattoo. This is terrible," she said.
Blackwell says King would stay over at the Northampton Apartments with his girlfriend and her son.
"I knew his mother since she was 7-years-old, when she passed away two years ago, and when she passed away two years ago from COVID we just got closer. He said you're my mom now," a heartbroken Blackwell told reporters.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined by fire officials.
One neighbor who lived in the apartment complex said he was woken up by smoke alarms and knew he had to get out quickly.
"I go by the font door and do a smell test and smell nothing but smoke and like burnt up wood. So I run to my parents room and wake them up like, 'Mom, Dad, let's go it's a fire we gotta get out. Just grab what you can and let's go,'" he said.
Doubleday called the loss of life in the fire unfortunate, and encouraged neighbors to have an escape plan.
"We want to encourage folks that if there is a fire to get out and stay out. Ensure your home or apartment has a working smoke alarm, and have an escape plan. When something like this happens in the middle of the night it can be devastating and traumatic to all involved," he said.
Doubleday said the building where the fire happened has been declared unsafe to occupy. It is not yet known how many residents have been displaced by the blaze.
This is not the first time a fire has displaced families who called the apartment complex home. Last year, a fire in the same complex displaced nearly 20 families, including a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant at the time.
Tuesday afternoon Prince Georges' County fire officials are expected to conduct fire alarm inspections and provide residents with escape route training.
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