(Photo courtesy Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association/Barry Bunker)
A Jarrettsville home sustained major damage Monday morning in a two-alarm fire which investigators said was ignited by discarded fireplace ashes.
The fire was reported by the owner of a home in the 3800 block of Federal Hill Road in Jarrettsville at approximately 7:41 a.m., according to a release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The occupants were alerted to the fire by a working smoke alarm and escaped without injury.
Approximately 80 firefighters from the Jarrettsville, Fallston, Whiteford, Bel Air, Jacksonville, Hereford, Fawn Grove and Delta-Cardiff fire companies responded and battled the blaze for about 90 minutes.
Investigators determined that a bucket of discarded ashes ignited the rear of the split-level home, sparking a fire which spread into the home’s roof. Damage to the home was estimated at $325,000, while damages to its contents were estimated at $50,000.
The Harford County Disaster Assistance Team provided aid at the scene.
Sorry to hear that there was a fire at a home. BUT why can’t aberdeen demolish a house that no one lives in and is boarded up? Let me guess?
There are houses in the county that need to be demolished and removed from the streets because of being maintained poorly. Just because a house was lived in doesn’t make it historical. There needs to be more then words to stop the demolish of a boarded up house in Aberdeen. Where were you when the house was being boarded up and why haven’t you done anything up until this point. Seems that the house was not useful until it could be video taped and you got your 4.5 minutes of fame. Seems you really showed the city of Aberdeen how to hold off the authorities and make it look like you were saving a home. Yeah..OK You don’t have a problem ignoring the house any other time of the day and now you wanna get on the news and say how important this house is? Great job at showing that you can save an abandoned house and make it look like you really care. If you care…….fix the house up and make it livable.
What the hell did I just read? Did you go to public school in this county?
What in the world do the comments about an abandoned house in Aberdeen have to do with this unfortunate family in Jarrettsville?
I am thinking the writer, who apparently needs writing classes, was trying to equate a family that had a fire at their house as a tragic accident and needed help. Apparently there is a house in the City of Aberdeen that is abandoned that was getting ready to be torn down and some people come out of the woodwork to save the house. Ergo, it made the video news and the poor family, that had a fire, didn’t. One family lived in the home and took care of it and the other only showed up when it was news worthy. I’m sure Captain Jim could have seen this from space.