Person dies after house fire in Germantown started by motorized hospital bed

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. ( DC News Now ) — A person whom crews rescued from a house fire in Germantown Friday morning died at the hospital.

Pete Piringer with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) shared the update about the fire in the 11400 block of Neelsville Church Rd. in a post on X late Friday afternoon. In the post, Piringer said the cause of the fire was the motor of a hospital bed that was in the home. The motor malfunctioned and overheated.

Piringer first posted about the fire on X at 10:16 a.m., saying that firefighters were at a house on Neelsville Church Road near Shakespeare Boulevard.

Firefighters were on the scene of a house fire in Germantown on Friday morning. (Photo Courtesy: Pete Piringer)

When crews arrived, they found flames in a bedroom, and a person was stuck inside the home. Firefighters pulled the person from the house.

In his update Friday afternoon, Piringer said the fire displaced others who lived in the home, which did not have working smoke detectors. One firefighter had injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.

The fire caused $100,000 in damage.

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