Fire Ravages Potomac Avenue House

Update, 11:55 a.m.: Three University of Maryland students and a College Park man are displaced after a wind-driven fire torched one home and seriously damaged the other, according to Prince George's County Fire/EMS spokesperson Mark Brady.

Firefighters arrived on the scene to find the students' wood-frame house engulfed in flames, rapid wind-driven extension to homes on either side, two sheds on fire and a natural gas fire on the exterior of a neighbor's house, police said.

The fire was contained within three hours; firefighters kept the exterior natural gas fire in check and were able to extinguish it after Washington Gas workers shut off the natural gas main at about 8:30 a.m., Brady said.

Firefighters removed several animals from the scene, including two dogs and an exotic bird, Brady said. 

No injuries were reported to animals, civilians and firefighters.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire loss is estimated at $400,000 to structures and contents.

Update, 8:40 a.m.: Firefighters continue to "hit the hot spots" at a fire on the 8400 block of Potomac Avenue in College Park, according to Prince George's County Fire/EMS spokesperson Mark Brady.

"The house is a total loss," Brady said.

The two-story, wood-frame, single-family home was normally occupied by three UMd. students; only two of the three were home at the time of the fire and escaped to safety, Brady added.

It took firefighters an hour to knock down the bulk of the fire, he said.

No injuries have been reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Brady said.

Patch will continue to update this story as we receive updates.

Original Post, 8:15 a.m.: A fire that started on the 8400 block of Potomac Avenue in College Park has left a house destroyed and three University of Maryland students displaced.

The fire began just before 6 a.m. on Saturday and has since been extinguished.

Firefighters successfully evacuated the house, and no injuries have been reported. The house was occupied by three UMd. students, and the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Curry Rose Hoskey, whose house is on Quebec Street, said she could see flames shooting into the air, and that even the trees around the house were destroyed.

"It was a full-blown, raging, gigantic red-flamed fire," she said.

More information to come.