A fire that sparked Friday night in the attached garage of a Rockville home left a family displaced and caused about $550,000 in damage, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS).
Two adults and a child escaped the blaze and no injuries were reported, MCFRS spokesman Pete Piringer wrote on social media.
About 75 county firefighters responded to the blaze reported shortly before 10 p.m. at the single-family house in the 1400 block of Gerard Street off Watts Branch Parkway, MCFRS spokesman Pete Piringer wrote on social media.
Firefighters encountered heavy flames and smoke from the fire that had spread from the garage of the two-story home, Piringer said.
The fire extended to four rooms on the first floor of the house as well as rooms on the second floor and a part of the attic, causing “significant damage,” he said.
Firefighters got the fire under control within 25 minutes, he said.
The cause of the fire was deemed “accidental” with possible ignition sources including a “lawn mower, car battery, garage door opener [or] light,” he said. Fire investigators did find an interior wooden door between the garage and the house interior, which is prohibited by fire codes, Piringer noted.
MCFRS crews from Station 32 were expected to return Saturday afternoon to the neighborhood where the blaze occurred to talk to residents about fire safety and to offer to check home alarms as part of the department’s “After the Fire” campaign, Piringer wrote Saturday morning on social media.
