Two Paint Branch Students Displaced by Fire

Dominique Tidwell, Center Page Editor

The fire that swept through the Forest Park Apartments in Silver Spring on August 27th left two Paint Branch students and their families homeless and without any of their belongings.
According to the Washington Post, fire officials stated that an electric socket “…sparked a mattress…” The fire then “…burned through the roof of the four-story building.”
Assistant Fire Chief Scott Graham told the Post, “Seven tenants and three firefighters were taken to local hospitals with injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening.”
The two Paint Branch families displaced by the fire suffered no injuries, but they did lose all of their belongings.
Senior Armando Nwizu, one of the two PB students affected by the fire, stated, “I was coming home from school and I saw the fire trucks and the burnt building.” As for his belongings and those of his family, Nwizu said, “I have nothing left.”
The Post reported that official estimates place the damage to the structure at about $1 million.