The Prince George’s County Fire Department is conducting an investigation after a volunteer firefighter accused a career firefighter of assaulting him at the scene of a blaze in Berwyn Heights on Sunday.
Firefighter units were at the scene Sunday at about 1:30 p.m. when a firefighter from Hyattsville and a firefighter from Greenbelt got into an argument, said Mark Brady, Prince George’s County Fire Department spokesman.
The specifics of what they were arguing about are still under review by the department, but one firefighter alleged that the other assaulted him during this argument, Brady said.
“Once we found out about it, while units were still on the scene, we removed each firefighter from emergency operations, meaning they were no longer on call,” he said. “It was basically an administrative suspension.”
The department is conducting an internal investigation to find out what happened at the scene of that fire, Brady said. The case will ultimately be presented to a disciplinary panel to determine the potential additional actions.
The two firefighters involved remain removed from emergency operations, Brady said, adding that their statuses are “pending the outcome of the internal investigation.”
Their names will not be released at this time, Brady added.
The fire, which occurred at the 6100 block of Ruatan Street, caused about $80,000 in damages. The cause of the blaze is unknown.
Although the alleged confrontation took place at the scene of the fire, Brady stressed that the incident didn’t interfere with efforts to extinguish the flames.
“This altercation really had no impact on the fire,” Brady said. “The fire was out basically when this occurred.”
