The funeral service will be held Monday for two Potomac sisters killed in a house fire at a vacation home in the Hamptons this week, according to their congregation.
Police say Jillian Wiener, 21, and Lindsay Wiener, 19, were asleep on the second story of a rental home in Long Island when the fire started shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday. First responders found them in the home and they were transported to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead.
Both were graduates of the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda.
Their funeral will begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C. Their father, Lewis, who survived the fire along with his wife and son, is the president of the congregation.
The service is open to the public, according to a statement from the congregation, but the family asked that attendees take a rapid COVID-19 test before arriving and wear a face covering.
The service will be livestreamed on the Washington Hebrew Congregation website.
Local media reported that the girls’ brother, Zach, 23, escaped the fire through a second-story window. Lewis tried unsuccessfully to re-enter the home when he realized Jillian and Lindsay had not escaped, according to the published reports.
In a letter to the school community, Holton-Arms Head of School Susanna Jones wrote “the sisters were warm, engaged members of the Holton community who positively impacted both their classes and the larger school community.”
She said Jillian played soccer and ice hockey, and was passionate about community service. She was a rising senior at the University of Michigan.
In a statement this week, the university said it was “shocked and saddened by this tragic loss of a member of our community.”
Lindsay was a “bright spirit and leader” who was “dedicated to service, particularly getting young people involved in politics and generally promoting volunteerism,” Jones wrote. She was a rising sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media