Flowers were left in the yard where a man died when a fire started inside his home in Brentwood just after midnight Sunday.
Firefighters say conditions in the home made it challenging to fight the fire and rescue the man trapped inside.
Fire officials say firefighters got there and started battling the flames within four minutes, but the professional firefighter's union is raising concerns, saying the closest fire station, Station 55 Bunker Hill less than a mile away, was "out of service" due to a county staffing reallocation.
Dozens of firefighters were pulled from four fire stations, including Bunker Hill, in June and moved to other stations in the county to deal with a personnel shortage.
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“It means the fire house a mile closer than any other fire station did not have a fire truck to respond to that call,” said Grant Walker with the union, IAFF Local 1619.
Prince George’s County Fire Chief Tiffany Green has said she moved the firefighters in an effort to address the shortage and excessive overtime
“What I saw last year was burnout, fatigue, mental and physical challenges due to these holdovers,” she said in June.
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The staffing moves and safety concerns were raised at a recent county council meeting
Green has said she's trying to spread resources in the best possible way to keep the county safe as she tries to hire 150 new firefighters.
There is no indication that the staffing issues were directly related to the fatality here, but the union says every second counts when it comes to saving lives.
