Ashtray Sparked Bel Air Townhouse Blaze: Fire Marshal

BEL AIR, MD – A townhouse fire in Bel Air Wednesday started when someone put an ashtray into a wastebasket, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

At 5:05 p.m., a passerby reported smoke coming from a window on the second floor of a townhouse in the 300 block of Franklin Street, the fire marshal said.

Approximately 20 firefighters responded and brought the fire under control within five minutes, according to the fire marshal. There was moderate smoke and soot damage on the second floor of the home, the fire marshal said.

Nobody was home at the time of the blaze, which was contained to a wastebasket and floor in a bedroom on the home's second story, according to the fire marshal, who reported there were not any working smoke alarms inside.

The blaze was ruled accidental, attributed to improperly discarded smoking material—an ashtray was put into a small wastebasket—according to the fire marshal.

There was $5,000 in structural damage, and $5,000 worth of items inside the home were also lost, the fire marshal reported.

The fire marshal said the people who lived there were being assisted by friends and family.

Photo Credit: Ray Belcher, Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company.