Neighbors Tried to Help but Could Not Reach Victim
By Clarence Williams and Martin Weil Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, May 10, 2008
One person died last night in a fire in an apartment in Southeast Washington, where shaken neighbors said they had seen the victim amid the flames but could do little to help.
Firefighters found the victim's body shortly before 8 p.m. in an apartment house in the 400 block of 37th Place SE.
The sex of the victim could not be determined because the body was badly burned, fire department spokesman Alan Etter said.
A source said the victim appeared to be a woman. Two witnesses also said they saw a woman in the burning ground-floor apartment.
"I could see her trying to get up and trying to get out," said one of the witnesses, who declined to give her name.
The witnesses said the victim was apparently overcome before anyone could reach her.
One who tried was Paul Jackson Jr., a neighborhood resident who was passing by. He said he tried to break a window, but it was too hot.
As he peered inside, Jackson said, he saw a woman. "I just saw her come through the midst of the fire," he said.
Burned bedding was found in the apartment, Etter said. He said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.
Etter said the fire was reported about 7:45 p.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they saw flames and smoke streaming from the ground floor.
"Oh, man," said Julius Lyons, who lives on 37th Place. "It was terrible." Flames were "gushing out the window," he said.
Fire streamed from windows on the front and side of the building, and some residents came running out, "screaming and hollering," said another neighbor, Carletta Banks.
An alarm in the building alerted resident Waddell Murden to the blaze. After he left his apartment, he said, he realized somebody was trapped in the burning unit.
He tried in vain to get in through the door, but "it was hard to kick in," he said. He tried a window, but "it was too hot," he said.
Neighbors said they eventually managed to kick in the door but were forced back by heat.
A firefighter was taken to a hospital after suffering burns to his forehead and ears, Etter said.
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