A family of seven has been displaced after a two-alarm fire ripped through their Potomac home Monday afternoon, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) spokesperson Pete Piringer said in a video on social media Monday.
The cause of the blaze, which resulted in around $3 million in damage to the home, was accidental and still under investigation, Piringer said on social media Monday evening.
Firefighters were initially dispatched to the home in the 8800 block of Mary Mead Court off Newbridge Drive at 3:23 p.m. for the report of a roof on fire, according to Piringer and radio transmissions. The fire originated in the roof or attic of the home.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they encountered a fire “in its advanced stages,” Piringer said. A second alarm was dispatched at 3:32 p.m. to help fight the blaze, according to radio transmissions. Between 85 to 90 firefighters responded.
Piringer noted that the blaze was in a large single-family home and firefighters fought “heavy fire conditions” throughout the second floor of the home and the roof.
“After an aggressive interior attack, they knocked the fire down from the exterior,” Piringer said. “The roof was completely burned off and there was a partial collapse of [the] chimney and other structures.”
The family in the home was able to “self rescue” and escape the home without injuries. Firefighters rescued several baby chicks in the home that the family had acquired for Easter, Piringer said.
