MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. — A family is placed, and one person is in critical condition after flames tore through a home Easter Sunday in Gaithersburg, Maryland, fire officials said.
Units with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched to a fire at a two-story home on Whetstone Drive off of Montgomery Village Avenue in Gaithersburg just before 1 a.m.
Three residents were rescued from the home in the hours that followed and transported to the hospital, according to MCRFS Pete Piringer. One of the residents had life-threatening injuries and the other two sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Three family dogs were killed in the fire, Piringer said. One family was displaced.
At 5:30 a.m., firefighters cleared the scene and Piringer said several people remained hospitalized.
A firefighter who sustained non-life-threatening injuries was also taken to the hospital following the house fire, according to Piringer.
At least 75 firefighters responded to the scene to heavy fire coming out of the home. Pete Piringer said at the time of the fire the temperature was around freezing in the low 30s.
Damage is estimated at $750,000, fire officials said.
After an initial investigation, firefighters believed the fire was accidental and it caused by a malfunction in a lamp or its cord. Piringer said the fire started in a screened-in porch area at the back of the house.
Firefighters are expected to go door-to-door to talk with neighbors in in the area about the circumstances of the fire and general fire safety.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.