D.C. officials said in an update Monday that the third victim of the fire died and a suspect was charged with murder and arson. Go here for updates.
Two people died and another person is seriously hurt after a house fire in Southeast D.C. early Sunday.
Firefighters responded to 23rd Street SE at 5:30 a.m. to a report of a fire. Upon arrival, they saw flames coming from the second floor of a townhouse. All three people were on the top floor at the time of the fire.
A 34-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man were pronounced dead. An 85-year-old woman was escorted down a ladder from the top floor and taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
“This is just terrible for the community," Chief John Donnelly said. "People are going to be waking up Sunday morning, you know, to find out about this."
Through the morning into the afternoon, members of the District’s arson task force were seen going in and out of the home and taking pictures.
D.C. police say a suspect was taken into custody Sunday morning. Investigators tell News4 two prior calls were made for issues overnight at the home.
D.C. Fire and EMS said they received several 911 calls about a house on fire. More than 60 firefighters responded to the fire.
"There was a lot of smoke. The crews put a ladder up to the second floor and broke a window out, went in found a person in the bedroom and then were able to get them out," Donnelly said. "Really heroic efforts by our firefighters today, but a terrible tragedy.”
A neighbor tells News4 he was awakened to the commotion by his son, who saw smoke coming from the house.
“He woke me up this morning, early. He said he had seen flames coming out from the house,” the neighbor said. "This morning I got some messages from some neighbors that one of the houses had caught on fire, and so I came up this morning to see what was going on.”
D.C. Fire and EMS tells News4 the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
