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WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD - On the night of February 16, 2009 Hancock Fire Company was dispatched out for a “house on fire” at 220 Old Route 40 in the town of Hancock. Washington County dispatch took reports of the fire around 10:48 p.m. Calls came in from neighbors reporting heavy smoke coming from the house with possible entrapments. Within minutes the fire quickly spread fully engulfing the first floor of the house.

Hancock Rescue Company arrived first with Medic 591 to find heavy fire showing. They confirmed they had a working fire with entrapments on the second floor. EMS crews attended to the mother and boyfriend for injuries sustained while evacuating as Hancock firefighters arrived. Captain Danny Shirley of Hancock Company 5 immediately assumed Old Route 40 Command upon his arrival. Company 5 firefighters executed an interior attack to try and make access to the second floor as Command assessed the circumstances.

As Command worked to assess the scene, the mother with the EMS crews advised her daughters were still in the house. With that confirmation, Command immediately requested additional fire and EMS departments to the scene to assist. Firefighters from Hancock worked diligently to gain control of the blaze to make access to the second floor where two sisters were reported to be in their bedroom. Crews tried multiple ways to access the second floor as the integrity of the structure was rapidly deteriorating from the inside out.

Approximately forty minutes into the incident, crews finally made access to the second floor finding heavy fire engulfing everything around them. At this point Command reported the structure unsafe and had dispatch sound the evacuation order over the tactical channel. Firefighters had to immediately retreat from their rescue operations unsuccessfully accessing the sisters trapped. Once all firefighters were evacuated and accounted for Command reported all operations to be in defensive mode. From that point firefighters battled the blaze with exterior hose lines, deck guns and ladder pipe operations.

Firefighters from over 13 fire and rescue companies battled the blaze for about an hour after the evacuation to get a bulk of the fire knocked down. Command reported the fire out at 1:24 a.m. the next morning at which time a majority of the units could be released from the incident. In the meantime, the mother and boyfriend treated at the scene were transported to War Memorial Hospital for injuries and later transferred down to Winchester Medical Center.

Hancock Fire remained on the scene well in to the next day assisting State Fire Marshals who were on the scene conducting their investigation into the fatal fire. Before clearing the scene that day, Fire Marshals had a strong suspicion that the fire was no accident. As fire marshals, ATF agents and Maryland State Police Homicide investigators worked together for the next few days, it was confirmed Arson. As investigator narrowed their search, the boyfriend of the girls’ mother confessed to setting the fire on that tragic night. At this point he has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree arson along with multiple other charges. If convicted, the boyfriend has a chance of facing the death penalty.

Emergency crews responded that night with approximately 75 personnel. Damages have been estimated to be around $90,000, which includes the structure and it’s contents. All that remains of the house is the brick and concrete bock. Once the investigation is complete, the house is planned to be leveled by the owners of the property. The mother currently remains hospitalized at Winchester Medical Center. An autopsy of both sisters also confirmed that they perished from smoke inhalation and burns during the fire.

Berkley Springs Fire Co.1 (WV), Clear Spring Fire Co.4, Orleans Fire Co.43, Williamsport Fire & EMS Co.2, Maugansville Fire Co.13, Long meadow Fire Co.27, Washington County Special Operations 20, Hancock EMS Co.59, Flintstone EMS Co.12, Needmore EMS Co.55 (PA), Washington County Emergency Air Unit, Rehab Unit 255, Maryland State Fire Marshals Office, MSP Homicide Division, ATF and the State Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team assisted Hancock Fire Company 5 on the incident.