Bathroom Repair Turns Into Multiple Apartment Fire

Update (5:27 p.m.)

Aberdeen firefighters extinguished a fire that damaged three units at the Parke Terrace Apartments, located on the 300 block of Parke Street, at approximately 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

A pair of maintenance workers for SBGS, Inc. were making repairs to a bathroom on a first-floor apartment when the fire started. The fire was determined to be accidental as a result of hot soldering materials igniting wood and insulation inside the walls while replacing a sink in the bathroom, according to Deputy Fire Marshal Oliver J. Alkire.

The maintenance workers immediately alerted other occupants inside the building and escorted nearby tenants to safety.

The flame rose from the first floor and caused smoke damage in two apartments on the second floor, said Aberdeen Fire Chief Steve Hinch.

Residents on the second floor were home when the fire broke out, but no one was injured. Six people have been displaced from their home because of the damage.

SBGS, a janitorial services company based in Havre de Grace, has done contracted work at the Parke Terrace Apartments for the last 3 1/2 years, according to one of the SBGS workers.

The fire caused an estimated $75,000 in structural damage and an additional estimated $25,000 in personal property damage.