| Tragedy struck this Christmas morning in the normally quiet & peaceful historical section of Lower Marlboro. Throughout the 19th Century, Lower Marlboro was considered a port town on the Patuxent River where tobacco was loaded and unloaded for ships. During the War of 1812, Lower Marlboro was burned by the British as they advanced towards Washington, D.C. Lower Marlboro still has numerous homes dating back to the early 19th Century.
At 0407 hours, a citizen of Lower Marlboro Lane called 911 and advised that her neighbor's house was on fire. The Box Assignment was dispatched for the Working House Fire in the 6500 block of Lower Marlboro Lane alerting firefighters from the Huntingtown VFD, Dunkirk VFD, North Beach VFD, Prince Frederick VFD & Anne Arundel Deale VFD. The Huntingtown Volunteers responded with the Fire Chief (Montgomery), Assistant Chief 6A (Spriggs), Safety Officer (McKenny), Engine 61 (Cox, C), Engine 62 (Lt Montgomery), Tanker 6 (Robison), Brush 6 (Lt Ward) & Ambulance 69 (Morgal, H). Shortly after dispatch, Communications advised that it was unknown if the homeowner was home or not. As units were arriving on location, Communications advised & the neighbor confirmed that the homeowner was trapped inside.
Engine 61 laid dual lines, arriving on the front side of the 2-story single-family wood frame residence with a 100% fully-involved house. Crews immediately went into action in an attempt to locate and remove the trapped homeowner. Despite these valiant efforts, firefighters watched as the house began to twist, shortly before collapsing into the basement foundation, less than 4 minutes after arriving on location.
Crews worked for hours knocking down the stubborn fire before finally locating the homeowner. Engine 62 supplied the fireground by laying dual lines from Engine 61 and pulling a draft from the Patuxent River. Charles County Benedict Boat 83 assisted with the draft when low tide began. Units from the Huntingtown VFD remained on the scene for 8 hours assisting the Fire Investigator, returning to service at 1157 hours. The house and three vehicles were destroyed in the fire. No firefighters were injured during the operation and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Command: Dunkirk VFD Chief 5A (Sealey)
Operations: Huntingtown VFD Fire Chief
Water Supply: Huntingtown VFD Assistant Chief, 6A
Side "A": Dunkirk VFD Chief 5 (Mills)
Side "C": North Beach VFD Chief 1 (Thrasher)
Safety: Safety Officer 6
Accountability: Safety Officer 1 (Freesland)
Initial Box : Huntingtown VFD Engine 61, Engine 62, Tanker 6, Brush 6 & Ambulance 69; Dunkirk VFD Engine 51, Squad 5, Tanker 5 & Ambulance 59; North Beach VFD Engine 12 & Tower 1; Prince Frederick VFD Engine 22 & Tanker 2; Anne Arundel Deale VFD Engine 422
Special Alarm: Charles County Benedict Boat 83 & Anne Arundel Harwood-Lothian Engine 91
Audio: http://www.scanmd.org/public/audio/audioView.cfm?Audio_ID=523
Pictures courtesy of marshall3rd.com & Member, Dennis Hook: www.DennisHook.smugmug.com |
