Harford Firefighters Helped Battle 3-Alarm Blaze in Rising Sun

Harford County firefighters were among the 100 first responders who helped battle a commercial building fire that spread to a home Sunday in Cecil County, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and displacing six people, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

The fire marshal reported that the blaze at Bigfoot Steaks and Hoagies began at 12:08 p.m. in the electrical service supply area outside the building at 20 West Main Street in Rising Sun.

In the two-story structure, the business occupies the first floor and apartments are on the second, according to the fire marshal.

The incident was initially dispatched as an electrical panel that was on fire, the Rising Sun Herald reported; crews from Rising Sun, Water Witch and Union (Oxford, Pa.) battled the fire from inside and outside Bigfoot at first, but as the flames spread to the duplex next door and the apartments above, they were forced to fight the fire from the exterior only.

At 2 p.m. the fire was upgraded to three alarms and all Harford County fire departments were placed on standby, according to the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

It took 100 firefighters from Cecil and Harford counties and Pennsylvania approximately an hour and a half to control the blaze, the fire marshal reported.

Darlington and the Susquehanna Hose Company were among the Harford first responders called upon for mutual aid.

As a result of the fire, there was more than $250,000 in damage to the commercial building and $60,000 in damage to a single-family home adjacent to it, the fire marshal reported.

Authorities said the Red Cross was assisting six adults and three children who were displaced as a result of the fire, which was ruled accidental.

Photo Credit: Rising Sun Town Administrator.