Child Playing With Lighter Caused HdG Townhouse Blaze: Officials

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Ten people and a dog were displaced after a child playing with a lighter started a fire in a Havre de Grace townhouse Tuesday, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. A police officer was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor smoke inhalation, investigators reported.

At 12:41 p.m., a resident discovered the fire in the 400 block of Battery Drive. Officials said a child ignited the blaze in the second-story back bedroom, and it spread to the structure of the end-unit townhouse, damaging the townhome next door.

Six children, two adults and one dog were displaced from the house where the fire began, authorities reported, and two adults were displaced from the home next door.

Investigators estimated there was $50,000 in structural damage, while $5,000 worth of items were lost inside the home.

There was a smoke alarm but it did not go off, according to the fire marshal, who said 50 firefighters from the Susquehanna Hose Company responded and brought the blaze under control within 10 minutes.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Firefighters in Havre de Grace say they were called to a possible house fire Tuesday afternoon. There was smoke showing from a two-story middle-of-the-group townhouse.

Crews were at the scene in the 400 block of Village Drive before 1 p.m., officials said.
Everyone was out of the house, according to the Susquehanna Hose Company.