Columbia Explosion Leaves $2M in Damage: Howard County Fire

At least six townhomes were posted as uninhabitable from a fire in Columbia Wednesday night, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

There was an estimated $2 million in damage, the department reported Thursday evening.

Leading up to the blaze in the 12000 block of Sleepy Horse Lane, a resident called BGE to report a gas odor, and when the technician found low levels of gas and proceeded next door, he found “what appeared to be a damaged gas assembly and a high level of gas in the garage of the adjacent townhouse,” the fire department said in a statement.

Nobody was home at the time, according to the statement.

Officials said the BGE technician “immediately began to warn surrounding residents to evacuate their homes and shut down the main gas feed to the townhouse. A short time later, the gas explosion and fire occurred.”

Related: Fire in Columbia Upgraded to Three Alarms

Two people were hospitalized from the blaze, which began after 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the report.

Initially, crews responded to a report of a house fire with explosion and found a middle-of-the-group townhouse and three additional homes ablaze, according to fire officials.

The fire was upgraded to three alarms, meaning additional crews were asked to assist.

More than 50 personnel from Howard, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Baltimore counties helped extinguish the fire, officials said.

Several residents were evaluated at the scene for smoke inhalation and declined to be taken to the hospital, according to the report.

A BGE worker suffered burn and blast injuries and was in stable condition at Johns Hopkins Bayview, where he was treated and released, the report said. Another individual was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation, according to the report.

The fire was declared under control at 10:50 p.m., the report stated.

The Red Cross was helping six people who were displaced, according to officials, who said more residences were being assessed for structural integrity.

The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services and the Howard County Police Department are investigating the cause of the fire.

Photo Credit: Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.