Fire on Jones Road Destroys More Than Home

Michael Williams stood helplessly as he watched the house he grew up in burn from the inside out.   

Purchased by Williams’ father more than 60 years ago, the home represents much more than a place of residence to the people of Jones Street.

Watching firefighters saw through the house’s roof to ventilate smoke was almost too much to bear for Williams, knowing that his father’s home, and its memory, was gone.

The saw’s aggressive tearing caused more than several neighbors to wince as the noise echoed through a previously calm Thursday morning.

“That’s home,” Williams said in a daze. “That’s history now.”

Smoke slowly filtered out of the home’s windows as paramedics took James L. Williams, 91, to the hospital due to an increase in blood pressure. The homeowner’s injuries might have been more severe if James Williams was actually in the house when the fire began. Thankfully for his family, the independent 91-year-old was out doing what he loves most, tending his garden.

For years, James Williams grew vegetables around his home at the end of Jones Road. To an outsider, only a small wooden sign with worn graffiti lettering would reveal the local gem, but the nearby community knew all about it.

“You name it, he has it. Squash, zucchini, fresh ripe tomatoes, he was even working [the garden] this morning,” said one neighbor.

In fact it was a neighbor, Jermell Gallaway, who called 911 when she saw smoke and flames billowing out the back of the home while walking her dog. Gallaway said Williams was watering his plants when the fire started.

Both Gallaway and James Williams waited together at the end of an unkempt driveway before firefighters arrived. “Believe me, they sent everybody here real fast,” Gallaway said in reference to the fire department’s response time.

James Williams continued to sit and watch his home as more than 40 firefighters and other responders quenched the flames. Surrounded by neighbors and family, it wasn’t just a home that was burning, but a community landmark.

“Picnics, cook outs, you name it, we’ve had it here,” said Michael Williams. Dozens of Christmases, Thanksgivings and other holiday events took place in the house with white siding, a brown roof and green trim, Williams said.

One of 12 children, Michael Williams said losing the home was just like losing a family member.

“It’s almost like a life-loss,” said the 42-year-old. “I was born there, raised there. A whole lot of history.”

Williams said it’s most likely that his 91-year-old father will move in with him now that the house is destroyed.

“What wasn’t fire damaged, there’s smoke damage,” Williams said.

The fire caused about $100,000 worth of damage to the home and its contents, said Chief Michael Cox, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, Cox said.