2-Alarm Burtonsville Apartment Fire - $1.3 damage

Four Firefighters Injured - One Resident Hospitalize
Dozens Displaced
Building was site of another fire in February 2008

Multi Alarm Structure fire: 14147 Castle Blvd. Burtonsville Md.
Damage: 1 Million Structure. $320,000 Contents. - Total $1.32 million
Displaced: 24 families - approx 40+ persons
Cause: Under Investigation - accidental
Smoke Detectors: Partial activation
Injuries: One (1) Civilian; Four (4) Fire Rescue


On Saturday, May 2, 2009 shortly after 7:30 AM the Montgomery County Public Safety Communications Center (PSCC) received a call for fire in the apartment building on Castle Blvd. Units from Montgomery and Prince George's County responded. First arriving units were able to see the large column of smoke from a distance and with the further reports from Police and 9-1-1 callers the PSCC started the RID assignment. Units arrived on the scene with a large volume of smoke and fire through the roof. First arriving units reported a clear environment in nearly all of the apartments. With fire in the attic spaces, after a few minutes crews experienced a partial floor collapse and a renewed heavy volume of fire and smoke. Firefighters assisted several residents from the building.

A Second Alarm was sounded bringing units from Montgomery, Prince George's and Howard Counties to the call. Command issued an evacuation and personnel accountability report PAR. One fire fighter received some minor injuries as the roof structure began to fail and pushed the ceiling in on him while he was self-evacuating.

The fire origin and cause has not been determined and remains under investigation. The working theory at this time was a fire occurred in the attic space and progressed unchecked until it broke through the ceiling where it woke a sleeping female occupant of a top floor apartment. The fire from the attic falling into a bedroom in apartment 403 caused enough of a disturbance that the sleeping occupant was jarred awake. She crawled staying low to the door and exited the apartment. She was taken to Med-Star, where she is being evaluated/treated for smoke inhalation. She is in good condition.

Investigators from the Montgomery County Fire and Explosive Investigations (FEI) section believe - "All indications point to a fire that begins in the attic. The fire drops down into the void spaces between the exterior walls and the finished interior drywall. The fire propagates from theses points into the floor joist spaces, wall spaces and back to the attic. The fire remains hidden until it severely compromised the floors on the third and fourth levels. As the building materials degrade the floor, ceiling and roof structures begin to collapse and the extent of the fire becomes more evident. As of this writing the nature is believed to be accidental, and at last count 24 families have been displaced. The Red Cross was on the scene providing disaster relief."

Four (4) fire fighters received minor injuries and had been transported to local hospitals, all are expected to be treated and released. The civilian injury is not as serious as first believed - she is in good condition at MedStar. .