40 Residents Displaced After 2-Alarm Apartment Blaze: Howard County Fire

ELKRIDGE, MD — Forty people have been displaced and two people injured, including a firefighter, after a blaze broke out at an Elkridge apartment building.

Shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday, firefighters from the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services were called to the 6300 block of Orchard Club Drive in Elkridge for a report of an apartment building fire. Crews arrived within six minutes of the first 911 call and found fire conditions on the second, third and fourth floors of the apartment building. The incident commander requested a second alarm, pulling in additional firefighters and equipment to support the first line firefighters. The fire was placed under control in about an hour, according to the fire department.

A total of 14 apartments sustained heavy damage and were deemed unlivable, displacing approximately 40 residents. The American Red Cross is assisting these residents with temporary housing and other immediate needs.

One firefighter and one resident were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while another resident was treated at the scene and declined hospital transport. Three pets, two dogs and a cat, perished in the fire.

The HCDFRS Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating the origin and cause of the fire.