Weekend Fires Gut Joppa Home, Injure One; Damage Edgewood Townhouse

An early Friday morning fire severely damaged a Joppa home and sent one man to the hospital, while a separate blaze later that night damaged an Edgewood townhouse.

The earlier blaze was discovered by the occupant of a home on the 1500 block of Old Mountain Road South at approximately 1:30 a.m. Friday. According to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, 50 firefighters from the Joppa, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fallston, Bel Air, Abingdon, Aberdeen, Susquehanna, Kingsville, and White Marsh fire companies battled the blaze for an hour before bringing it under control.

One man, Matthew L. Best, suffered smoke inhalation as a result of the fire and was transported to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center with non-life threatening injuries, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The fire, which began in the living room of the one-story house, caused an estimated $500,000 in damage to the structure and $100,000 in damages to its contents. A smoke alarm was present in the home at the time of the fire, but was not working.

A preliminary cause of the blaze has not been determined, and anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 410-836-4844.

Later the following night, at approximately 10 p.m., a fire broke out in the second-floor bathroom of a two-story townhome on the 1500 block of Charlestown Drive in Edgewood. A total of 25 firefighters from the Joppa, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Abingdon fire companies brought the blaze under control in about 15 minutes.

The cause of the fire was ruled accidental, and attributed to unattended candles igniting nearby combustible material, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. The fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to the home and an additional $10,000 in damages to its contents. A smoke alarm was present in the home but was not functioning at the time of the fire.