Landover fire caused by smoking, oxygen use

UPDATE:
Prince George’s fire officials said a woman who used portable oxygen while smoking accidentally started the fire that spread through an 11 unit apartment building in Landover Monday morning.

Officials said the fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. in the three-story, garden style apartment building in the 3400 block of Dodge Park Road.

Mark Brady, a spokesman with the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS, said residents were evacuated from the apartment; some had to be rescued from their balconies after fire and smoke blocked stairwells.

The woman who accidentally started the fire was in fair condition at a local hospital with smoke and burn injuries, Brady said.

Two apartments in 11 unit building were declared uninhabitable. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

-- Keith Alexander