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WASHINGTON — Fires in two town house complexes kept Montgomery County firefighters busy on a brutally cold Friday night.[related_gallery align=”right”]
In Gaithersburg, firefighters responded to a basement fire in a town house in the 100 block of Garth Terrace. No injuries were reported, but one person is being evaluated for smoke inhalation. Five adults and five children were displaced. Some 65 firefighters were on the scene.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue tweeted that the cause of the fire was the dryer in the basement. Damage is estimated at $400,000.
As firefighters were battling the blaze on Garth Terrace, a neighbor reported a fire in the 3500 block of Softwood Terrace in Olney. More than 100 firefighters responded to heavy fire in a town house. The middle of the row home in a five-row unit had partial structural collapse, and the fire extended to the other units.
The origin of the fire is the fireplace, where flammable liquid was used to restart a fire and a door was left open.
Some 20 people were displaced. There are several injuries, including one civilian and two firefighters. The estimated damage is more than $1,000,000.
Temperatures were in the teens Friday around 6:30 p.m. when the fires happened, but wind chills made it feel like -5 degrees.
Heavy streams firefighters used froze over, covering the structures, hose and ladders in ice.
Below is the area of the fires.