Dogs Alert Harford County Family To Garage Fire: Investigators

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A family was displaced early Thursday morning in Harford County following a fire in Street, according to officials. The residence had been without power due to the storms that struck Tuesday night, investigators reported.

Just before 3 a.m., the family's two dogs awakened the family of four, alerting the members to a fire in the garage attached to their home in the 3100 block of Tucker Road, officials said.

A generator had been powering various appliances in the garage, investigators said. Plugged in to one power strip in the garage were a full-sized refrigerator and two small refrigerators.

An electrical power strip failed, causing the fire, which was ruled accidental, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

About 35 firefighters brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes, officials said.

Although firefighters contained most of the blaze before it spread to the rest of the house, there was $50,000 in structural damage, while officials said $50,000 worth of items inside were lost.

Harford County Disaster Assistance is helping the family, which had to stay elsewhere afterward.