30 Apartments Damaged In Electrical Fire In North Bethesda: Officials

NORTH BETHESDA, MD — Dozens of residents who live in a North Bethesda apartment building remained displaced Thursday evening following an electrical fire, according to the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service.

The electrical fire broke out shortly after noon on Thursday in the north tower of Grosvenor House at 10101 Grosvenor Place, Bethesda Beat reported.

Apartments on the eighth, ninth and 10th floors of the north wing of Grosvenor House are uninhabitable, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer wrote in a tweet Thursday.

As many as 1,000 people were evacuated from the 20-story apartment building after the fire in an electrical closet, NBC4 reported.

The fire ultimately displaced residents from about 30 apartment units, Piringer said. No one was injured in the fire, he said.

The fire damage is estimated at $800,000, including $750,000 in structural damage and $50,000 in lost contents in the apartments, he said.

The accidental fire likely originated in an electric busway on the ninth floor, where two sections of busway join and was most likely caused by a significant arc that blew through a metal housing of busway, according to Piringer.

Heavy smoke was found on multiple floors of the Grosvenor Place building, Piringer told Bethesda Beat. A sprinkler that activated was able to contain the fire, he said.