Lamp Started Edgewood Townhouse Blaze: Fire Marshal

Edgewood, MD — A townhouse fire that began with a lamp displaced a family of seven and drew fire companies to Edgewood from Baltimore and Harford counties Thursday afternoon, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

One of the residents of the townhouse in the 1800 block of Grempler Way discovered that a lamp had fallen and begun to smolder a mattress around noon, the fire marshal reported. He used a portable fire extinguisher to put it out, then opened a window and closed the bedroom door before leaving with his wife.

His mother-in-law remained at the house with her four grandchildren, and when she smelled smoke, she found it was coming from the area of the bedroom door, according to the fire marshal. She notified authorities around 1 p.m.

Crews from APG, Kingsville and Abingdon helped bring the fire under control by 1:45 p.m., according to the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, which led the response to the incident at the end-of-group townhouse.

Approximately 35 firefighters participated in the operation, fire officials reported.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal ruled the fire accidental and determined the cause was a lamp igniting a mattress. There was $10,000 in structural damage to the home; in addition, approximately $5,000 worth of items were lost, the fire marshal reported.

Three adults and four children displaced by the house fire were receiving support from Harford County Disaster Assistance.

Photo Credit: Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company.