[chris]

Five D.C. firefighters were seriously burned when an arson fire brought part of a roof down on a search crew at a vacant Northeast Washington rowhouse on April 8, 2011, triggering a Mayday call over the radio.

The fire was reported around 12:40 a.m. in the 800 block of 48th Place NE, according to D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Pete Piringer. The first crews found heavy fire showing from the roof and rear of a one story, wood frame house that neighbors said was sometimes occupied. One engine company pushed an aggressive interior attack while a second protected an exposure, and members of Rescue Squad 3 searched the interior for anyone who might be trapped.

Within minutes, part of the roof collapsed, dropping heat and debris onto the search crew. A Truck 13 crew spotted the danger and called for help. Firefighters transmitted an emergency alert followed by a Mayday, and the response was upgraded to a second alarm. Two firefighters got themselves out of the building. A third was pulled clear by a rapid intervention team, and a fourth was hurt assisting in the rescue.

Five department members were treated for burns at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center Burn Unit. Firefighter Charles "Chucky" Ryan III of Rescue Squad 3, who also served as chief of the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George's County, Maryland, was listed in critical condition with second and third degree burns over 40 percent of his body. Also hurt were firefighter Warren "Mike" Deavers and Sgt. Ramon Hounshell, both of Rescue Squad 3, Lt. Robert Alvarado of Truck 13, and firefighter Theodore "Teddy" Douglas, who was treated and released. D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe went to the hospital as crews shifted to a defensive attack and knocked the fire down within 10 to 15 minutes of the collapse.

The house was empty, but prosecutors said the fire caused about $152,000 in damage to it and another $20,000 to an occupied home next door, where a family with young children lived. Investigators determined the fire had been intentionally set by Maurice Dews, then 27, who admitted setting at least eight fires at vacant homes in the District and Prince George's County between January 2008 and June 2011, often calling 911 himself to report blazes he had just set. Dews pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court in November 2011 to five counts of arson and four counts of aggravated assault while armed for the April 8 fire, and was sentenced in March 2012 to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Ryan spent 49 days at Washington Hospital Center, including time in intensive care, before going home. He credited keeping his face piece in place, even as it began to melt, with saving his life while his turnout gear burned around him. He returned to duty that November, seven months after the fire.

The audio accompanying this post is a District of Columbia Fire and EMS dispatch and fireground radio recording, running about thirty eight minutes. It covers the initial dispatch to the 48th Place NE address, the escalation to a second alarm, the roof collapse and Mayday, and the fire's knockdown, and it is a raw logging tape of radio traffic rather than a department news release. Portions of it carry unrelated transmissions from another incident running alongside the fireground traffic.