Fires In Three AACo Homes Injure Four, Displace Eight

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Firefighters from Anne Arundel County, Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy put out three blazes Thursday evening and early Friday at three Anne Arundel homes, the county's Fire Department announced Friday. The fires displaced eight people and sent four to local hospitals.

Anne Arundel firefighters responded to the first blaze at 5:13 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at a townhouse at 1401 Peregrine Path in Arnold, according to a Fire Department statement.

There were no injuries reported, and the fire caused $10,000 in damage. Units from the Naval Academy and Annapolis also responded to the blaze.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call from the occupants of the townhouse, who arrived home and discovered flames in their garage, the Fire Department said. The firefighters found a small fire in the garage that was quickly extinguished. The Red Cross is assisting two adults and one juvenile who were displaced by the blaze.

The second fire was reported at 7:12 p.m. Thursday, when firefighters rescued a 76-year-old man. The blaze broke out in a two-story house at 110 Ralph Road in Glen Burnie.

The firefighters responded to 911 calls reporting smoke coming from the front of the home and an occupant unable to escape.

"While firefighters made an initial attack on the fire in the living room, other firefighters located and removed the patient from the rear bedroom on the first floor," the fire department said.

The elderly man, who was not identified, was taken to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore for treatment of smoke inhalation, the fire department said. He sustained injuries that are considered serious but not life-threatening.

The elderly man was one of two adults who was displaced by the fire, the department said. Investigators with the Anne Arundel department are working to determine how and where in the house the fire started.

Firefighters Praise Smoke Alarms

Newly installed smoke alarms awoke three sleeping adults early Friday to a fire in their home near Annapolis, saving them from more serious injuries, the fire department said.

County firefighters responded at 4:30 a.m. Friday to the report of a fire in the basement of a two-story single-family house at 584 Wayward Court. Units from the Naval Academy and Annapolis also responded to the blaze.

They encountered heavy flames in the basement, but were able to extinguish most of the fire in 15 minutes, the department said.

The three adults, who were displaced by the fire, were taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center "with symptoms consistent with smoke inhalation that were not believed to be serious," the department said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, the department said.