Editor’s note: This story, originally published at 4:27 p.m. Nov. 26, 2024, was updated at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 27, 2024, to include the likely cause of the blaze.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews extinguished a basement fire that was likely started by a burning candle in a Rockville home Tuesday afternoon, according to MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer.
Three people were left displaced by the blaze, which caused an estimated $350,000 in damage, Piringer wrote on social media Tuesday night.
Units were dispatched around 2:20 p.m. for the report of a fire on the first-floor bedroom of a single-family home in the 1200 block of Gladstone Drive in Rockville, according to Piringer. Their response was delayed because one of the home’s occupants initially called a family member about the fire, he said.
More…Gladstone Dr, single-family house, fire in basement, fire extinguished, fire contained to basement (room & contents), no injuries reported, about @mcfrs 55 firefighters on scene pic.twitter.com/WZz6BRBRyO
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) November 26, 2024
According to radio transmissions, one caller reported seeing smoke coming out of the home’s windows.
Jason Blake, a MCFRS battalion chief, said on social media at roughly 2:40 p.m. Tuesday that MCFRS crews were working on a fire in the basement and that all occupants were accounted for.
At roughly 3:45 p.m. Piringer posted that the fire was extinguished. No injuries were reported, Piringer said, and there were roughly 55 county firefighters at the scene.
MCFRS crews are operating on Gladstone Dr in Rockville. Working basement fire with all occupants accounted for, cause under investigation. @mcfrsPIO @MCFRSNews pic.twitter.com/ZQqYYqYCCt
— Jason Blake (@mcfrsPIO7) November 26, 2024
