Dozens Evacuated By 2-Alarm Fire At Rockville Apartment

(Updated at 10:50 p.m. )ROCKVILLE, MD — About 85 Montgomery County firefighters were called to extinguish a fire Wednesday night at the Gables on Tuckerman apartments. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Pete Piringer said on Twitter that the fire started about 8 p.m. in the 10700 block of Hampton Mill Terrace.

Flames were showing from the top floor of the three-level apartment building when firefighters arrived. Improperly discarded smoking materials on an upper story balcony likely sparked the blaze, authorities said. Within an hour, the blaze was under control, and no injuries were reported.

Dozens of residents had to evacuate the building and 12 residents have been displaced by the fire. Piringer said there is significant damage to the apartments, estimated at more than $400,000.

Some lanes of Tuckerman Lane between old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike are blocked because of the fire department response.

»Photos from Rockville fire courtesy of Pete Piringer, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, via Twitter