Two people were killed in two separate fires on Christmas and Christmas Eve in Prince George's County, according to the county fire department.
About 2:15 a.m. Christmas morning, firefighters responded to the 900 block of Booker Drive in Capitol Heights, a Washington suburb, for a report of an 87-year-old woman trapped in the second story of a duplex in flames.
A man on the first floor of the home who had been alerted to the fire by a working smoke alarm had attempted to rescue the woman — his mother — but "the intense heat and thick smoke was just too much," the fire department said.
The woman, who was not identified, was later found after the fire was extinguished and pronounced dead, the fire department said. The fire remains under investigation.
The day prior, about 8:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, firefighters responded to the 5700 block of Park Drive in Bowie, where a fire was reported in a one-story single-family home, the department said.
Neighbors who had spotted the flames helped a woman who owned the home out a window. Firefighters later found an 83-year-old man inside the home unconscious, without a pulse and with burns to his upper body, the department said.
The man, who also was not identified, was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the department said.
There did not appear to be working smoke alarms in the home. The fire remains under investigation.
Firefighters will be in both communities on Friday talking to neighbors and making sure homes have working smoke alarms, the department said.
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