Sisters from Potomac die in Long Island house fire
By Ellie Silverman
August 4, 2022 at 1:27 p.m. EDT
Jillian Wiener, 21, and Lindsay Wiener, 19, sisters from Potomac and graduates of the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, died in a house fire while on vacation with their family in Long Island. (Southampton Town Police Department)
Two sisters from Potomac died in a house fire in New York early Wednesday morning while vacationing with their family. ... The sisters, identified by police as Jillian, 21, and Lindsay, 19, were asleep on the second floor of a Long Island rental home as the blaze spread. Their parents, Lewis Wiener, 60, and Alisa Wiener, 52, and brother, Zachary, 23, were able to escape the home and were transported with non-life-threatening injuries to a hospital, said Southampton town police department Lt. Susan C. Ralph. ... There were smoke alarms in the house, but no one has reported hearing them, Ralph said.
In the Washington region, their community mourned their deaths. ... The world has lost two beautiful lights today, and we are heartbroken, clergy and leadership at Washington Hebrew Congregation, where their father, attorney Lewis Wiener, known as Lew is president, wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Jillian and Lindsay were both graduates of the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, where they were warm, engaged members of the Holton community who positively impacted both their classes and the larger school community, Susanna A. Jones, the head of school, wrote in a message to the community. ... The sisters were in college: Jillian was going into her senior year at the University of Michigan, and Lindsay would be returning to Tulane University for her sophomore year.
At the Holton-Arms School, Jillian was involved in athletics, playing soccer and ice hockey, but she found her passion in yoga and community service, Jones wrote. She was a certified yoga instructor and for her senior project, she taught classes to younger students. She also fundraised for families whose children have cancer. ... Lindsay was president of the schools Community Service Club during the coronavirus pandemic and was president of the Jewish Culture Club, Jones wrote.
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By Ellie Silverman
Ellie Silverman covers protest movements, activism and local news. At The Post, she has also covered local crime and courts. She has previously reported on retail, breaking news and general assignment stories for the Philadelphia Inquirer, her hometown paper. She graduated from the University of Maryland, where she reported for the Diamondback. Twitter
https://twitter.com/esilverman11