4-Year-Old Started Aberdeen Townhouse Blaze: Fire Marshal

ABERDEEN, MD — The Susquehanna Hose Company assisted with an apartment fire in Aberdeen over the weekend. The fire marshal said a 4-year-old child started the fire trying to make a cake on the stove.

The fire started in the kitchen in the kitchen of a residence in the Holly Circle Townhouses in the 400 block of Holly Drive in Aberdeen, where a woman awoke to find smoke, officials said. After finding a fire atop the stove, she and her four children — ages 3, 4, 11 and 12 — were able to safely escape, authorities reported.

The person who lived there reported the fire around 1:07 a.m. on Saturday, March 10, and officials said it spread throughout the kitchen.

Approximately 25 firefighters from Aberdeen, APG and the Susquehanna Hose Company responded and within five minutes, the fire marshal said the blaze was under control.

There was light smoke showing from the middle-of-the-group residence when crews first arrived, then grew to fire showing in the kitchen, according to the Susquehanna Hose Company, which sent two engines to the scene. One helped with rapid intervention, and another ventilated the residence.

There was heavy soot damage throughout the residence, where the fire caused $5,000 in structural damage. The fire marshal estimated $2,000 worth of items inside the apartment were also lost.

The fire was ruled accidental, started by a 4-year-old child trying to bake a cake on the stove.

The family was receiving support from Harford County Disaster Assistance.

"Investigators commend the fire department for a quick response and being able to contain the fire to the kitchen only," the fire marshal said in a statement.

The Susquehanna Hose Company reported its crews returned to service around 2 a.m.

Photos courtesy of the Susquehanna Hose Company and Office of the State Fire Marshal.