(Photo Credit: John E. Gallagher/Special to The Dagger)
Three firefighters sustained minor injuries, one of them in a one-story fall, while battling a blaze in a pair of Bel Air townhomes early Wednesday morning, fire officials said.
The fire was discovered on the deck of a two-story townhome on the 900 block of Pentwood Court in Bel Air shortly before 2 a.m., according to a release from the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Approximately 50 firefighters from the Bel Air, Level, Abingdon, Fallston and Joppa fire companies responded, and units arriving on scene found heavy fire showing from both the townhome where the blaze began, and an adjacent home.
Firefighters brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes. During their efforts, one firefighter fell through the home’s basement stairs and sustained minor injuries; the firefighter was transported to Johns Hopkins Bayview. Two other firefighters sustained minor injuries but refused EMS care at the scene.
Damage to the homes was estimated at $300,000, and damages to their contents were estimated at $100,000, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said. The families affected are being assisted by Harford County Disaster Assistance and the Red Cross.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The picture certainly shows the horror of a home fire. Very sad. Any place set up to take donations?
It’s being reported the fire started on the deck. How does a fire start on a deck at 2 am?
Two easy possibilities off the top of my head: Hot charcoal that wasn’t disposed of properly and smoldered on the deck for a few hours or someone tossing a still burning cigarette into some trash by mistake (and virtually every smoker that I know seems to think it’s their god given right to toss their cigarette butts wherever the hell they please so this is a distinct possibility.)
There are lots of other possibilities ranging from accidental to intentional.