UPDATED: 20 Families Displaced in Three-Alarm Fire at Odenton Apartment

UPDATED at 5:05 p.m.

Firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze at an Odenton apartment complex, which displaced 20 families.

The fire began around 10 a.m. at a three-story garden-style apartment building in the 2100 block of Peaceful Way in Odenton. It was the third fire at the apartment complex in less than two years.

It took 68 firefighters about three hours to control the fire, Division Chief Keith Swindle told the Capital-Gazette. 

The three-story building has 30 units, but 10 were damaged by the fire. The building did not have fire sprinklers because it was built in 1988 before they were required, Swindle said.

Firefighters do not believe anybody was inside the apartment where the fire began, reports CBS DC. Others inside the building were able to safely evacuate, according to an Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesperson.

No injuries have been reported, FOX Baltimore reports.

Firefighters requested a second-alarm, bringing additional units from Fort George G. Meade and Baltimore City, according to the Capital-Gazette. Heavy fire was reported to be coming from one end of the building, Pfaltzgraff said.

Fort George G. Meade. Col. Brian Foley, garrison commander, Sgt. Maj. Thomas Latter and others arrived at the complex to help military families displaced by the fire. Fort Meade spokeswoman Mary Doyle told the newspaper at least five military families were affected. She said Corvias Military Living has volunteered to find temporary housing for those families.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

As many as 30 units are located in the burning building, CBS says.

Two other multiple-alarm fires occurred at the same complex in the fall of 2012.

On Sept. 30, an apartment complex in the 2000 block of Military Place, just off Blue Water Boulevard escalated to two alarms. More than 60 firefighters were on the scene, along with 25 pieces of equipment from as far away as Kent Island.

See also:  

• Fire Tears Through Apartment Complex in Seven Oaks
• Video of the Fire: (Courtesy Nathan Potter, via Facebook)
• Seven Oaks Fire Causes $750,000 in Damage