Mobile Home Fire In Maryland City Leaves 4 Homeless

MARYLAND CITY, MD — Flames spreading from an unattended fire set in a fireplace damaged a mobile home Tuesday afternoon, leaving three adults and a child homeless, according to the Anne Arundcel County Fire Department. There were no injuries in the blaze, and an estimate of damage to the home has not been determined.

Anne Arundel firefighters responded at 2:25 p.m. Tuesday to reports of smoke and flames coming from a mobile home in the unit block of Zona Street in Maryland City. They extinguished the fire in less than 10 minutes, the fire department said.

Investigators with the department's Explosives Investigation Unit determined that the fire was accidental. It started when flames from the fireplace ignited other objects in the room, the department said.

The home's occupants are being assisted by the local Red Cross.

Closing Before Dozing

The fire investigators noted that the doors to the three bedrooms in the mobile home were closed. As a result, those rooms sustained no fire damage.

"This finding demonstrates the importance of sleeping with bedroom doors closed at night," the department said in a statement.

“Closing before dozing” can save lives by slowing the spread of fire and smoke, the department added.

Fires feed on oxygen, and fire officials say that home dwellers can slow the spread of an indoor blaze by keeping their bedroom doors closed while sleeping. This can also reduce the toxic smoke that builds in a home during a fire.

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Image: Patch file