Close to home...

As a television news department our primary mission is to report the news in a fair and objective manner. However, that gets difficult to do when the news is devastating and hits so close to home.

A rowhouse fire erupted on "F" street in Northeast DC on Monday afternoon. Investigators believe the fire was caused by some oily rags being stored next to some propane canisters in one of the homes.

It's believed those rags ignited the propane, setting off an explosion that caused a major inferno.

Four firefighters were trapped in that blaze and are in the hospital. One of firefighters is still in critical condition.

His name is Sgt. Michael Lacore. He is the son of one of our co-workers, Madeline Lacore. Madeline has been with the station for many years and is our Community Relations Senior Producer.

During this time, our thoughts and prayers are with all the brave firefighters, Madeline and her courageous son.

For video and more information on this story, please navigate to:
http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/davestatter.aspx