Man Dead; Three Firefighters Injured In Weekend Twinbrook Blaze

A Twinbrook apartment blaze early Sunday morning claimed the life of the apartment resident and put three Montgomery County Fire and Rescue firefighters in the hospital.

According to STATter 911 and WUSA, at about 1:00 am firefighters were called to 12819 Twinbrook Parkway, a garden apartment, to find the building ablaze with residents still inside. The apartment building has four units on the second floor and four on the first. Firefighters Captain R. Dwayne Dutrow, James Heikka, and Mark Mechlin entered Apartment 203, where the floor collapsed almost entirely, spilling them a floor below into Apartment 103, where the blaze began.

That apartment's resident, Timothy Moran, himself the son of a former Silver Spring firefighter, was found dead. The fire is believed to have been accidental.

The configuration of the building places the first floor about 14 feet above ground level at the rear, where the firefighters were. Dutrow and Heikka were able to exit through a window and fall to the ground below. Firefighter Mechlin, though trapped under a piece of furniture, still had hold of a firehose and continued spraying water toward the window until he was rescued.

(In the photo, firefighters fell from the top to the middle floor, and escaped through the narrow window in the middle.)

All three firefighters were taken to Washington Hospital Center. Mechlin was released Monday afternoon. The other two have left ICU and late yesterday were in "fair" condition.

According to STATter 911:

[Timothy] Moran's body was found in the same apartment where the firefighters landed. Montgomery County investigators say the fire started in that apartment and is believed to be accidental. According to Moran's family he is the son of a former firefighter from Silver Spring, Charles K. Moran. The family has asked that donations be made in the names of the injured firefighters to HEROES, Inc.

Our condolences go to Moran's family, and our best wishes for recovery go to the heroic firefighters.

(Image of rear of apartment from WUSA and STATter 911.)