Weekend fire closes Chillum school, prompts safety review for students

A weekend fire at César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion School in Chillum rippled far beyond the classroom that burned, forcing Prince George’s County Public Schools to close the Riggs Road campus Monday while crews checked the building and its electrical systems.

Prince George’s County firefighters were called to 6609 Riggs Road just after 6 p.m. Sunday and found flames inside the school. Crews got the fire under control quickly, and no one was injured, but district leaders still shut the building Monday, April 20, and said it was expected to reopen Tuesday after the site was assessed.

That short closure carried real consequences for families who depend on a stable school routine. César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion is not a standard neighborhood elementary school; it is a dual-language Spanish immersion program that serves 371 students and reports a 94.2% attendance rate. For parents in Chillum and nearby communities, even one unexpected day out of class can mean scrambling for childcare, rearranging work shifts, and changing transportation plans with little notice.

The disruption also interrupted a school with growing visibility inside the county system. In December 2024, Prince George’s County Public Schools said César Chávez Dual Spanish Immersion was one of only eight schools in the United States and Canada newly recognized as an International Spanish Academy, a distinction that underscores how much families have invested in the program.

The district’s cautious response reflected its fire-preparedness rules. Prince George’s County Public Schools says its emergency procedures emphasize safety for fires and damaged buildings, and its fire-drill guidance requires schools to hold drills at least once a month. In this case, that meant closing the campus while officials checked the site rather than rushing students back.

The cause of the blaze remained unclear. District officials said the school would stay closed Monday while the building and electrical systems were reviewed, a sign that even a contained fire can trigger a wider safety inspection before classrooms reopen.

The same Sunday brought another school fire in the region, this time at Bren Mar Park Elementary School in Fairfax County, where no injuries were reported. For Chillum families, though, the more immediate concern was simpler: getting children safely back into a school that can resume its dual-language schedule, its routines and its role in daily life.