Fire Displaces 20 Apartment Residents In Howard County: Official

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Approximately 20 Howard County apartment residents have been displaced from their homes after a fire broke out Monday shortly before 7 p.m. at Columbia Choice Apartments. When firefighters and paramedics arrived, crews found flames on the third floor and the roof of the three-story apartment building.

Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services stopped the fire in the apartment where it first broke out and in the attic, according to the department. The fire was brought under control in close to 30 minutes. Smoke and water damage affected five other units in the building and the American Red Cross has been brought in to assist the nearly two dozen displaced residents. One juvenile was transported to an area hospital for smoke inhalation, the department noted.

The HCDFRS Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating the origin and cause of the fire.