3 generations of family members die after fire traps them in house

Three family members of three generations died early yesterday morning as a result of Fairmount Heights house fire that started when a cigarette ignited a sofa, authorities reported.

The blaze in the 5400 block of Addison Road was reported just after midnight by town police officers on routine patrol, whose attempt to rescue the trapped occupants was thwarted by the heat and smoke, said Capt. Chauncey Bowers, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.

The one occupant of the house who escaped also tried unsuccessfully to reach the victims - his mother, Margaret Bobo, 91; brother, Morris Jackson, 49; and son, Ako Henson, 9, Bowers said. The man's name was not available.

By the time firefighters arrived at the house, one victim was dead. The others died at area hospitals.