Fire Outside Forest Hill Giant Attributed To Malfunction

BEL AIR, MD — Firefighters converged at the Giant in Forest Hill early Friday morning, where a fire was reported outside the building. A malfunctioning light ballast sparked the blaze, which the Office of the State Fire Marshal ruled accidental.

At 12:10 a.m., crews were dispatched to the Giant supermarket in the 1400 block of Rock Spring Road, according to Rich Gardiner of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company.

Officials said an employee at the store discovered the fire and notified authorities.

Crews from Bel Air, Fallston and Jarrettsville responded and contained the blaze to an area outside the store at the Rock Spring Shopping Center, Gardiner said.

It took about five minutes for 20 firefighters to control the blaze, according to the fire marshal.

There was $1,500 in structural damage, officials said.

Authorities said nobody was injured, and no items inside the store were impacted.

Photos of the response to the Giant fire courtesy of Mark Ensor, Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company.