CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Two pet dogs who were home alone died in a fire that started in a kitchen of a townhouse in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Sunday afternoon. As a result, one family has been displaced.
Crews responded to a single-family house along Chevy Chase Drive near Hillandale Road around 2:40 p.m. after a neighbor called 911, according to the Public Information Office of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, Pete Piringer.
Firefighters arrived at the single-family house finding fire on the first floor in the kitchen area and smoke throughout the home. Piringer said crews made their way inside the home and put out the blaze.
The family living in the townhouse was not home during the time of the fire, but their pets were left inside by themselves.
The fire was caused when cardboard boxes were set on top of a stovetop in the kitchen and a resident inside the home likely 'inadvertently' and 'unknowingly' bumped the knob turning the stove on, according to Piringer.
Chevy chase townhouse fire displaces 1 family, kills 2 dogs
Two dogs were pronounced dead and officials said the dogs likely died after being trapped inside the house filled with smoke.
No other injuries were reported. The fire caused an estimated $200,000 in damage to the townhouse.
