HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Firefighters are still investigating the cause of a house fire in Howard County Wednesday night.
According to firefighters, at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, a resident of a home in the 5100 block of Green Bridge Road in Dayton, Maryland called 911 to report a house fire. When firefighters arrived, they encountered heavy fire visible from the attic and the rear of the dwelling.
All residents safely evacuated the home before Howard County Fire and Rescue Services units arrived.
As crews began to extinguish the blaze, they found fire in the basement, on the main level and in the attic of the home. As a result, firefighters adopted a defensive firefighting strategy by attacking the fire from outside. After ensuring the structural integrity of the first floor, crews entered the building to fight the fire from inside.
One person was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Four adults and three children have been displaced as a result of the fire, and they are being assisted by family members who live nearby, firefighters said.
The fire occurred in a rural, non-hydrated area of Howard County. As a result, firefighters shuttled water from a nearby cistern to ensure an adequate water supply throughout the incident. There are 33 cisterns strategically located in non-hydrated areas to provide hundreds of thousands of gallons of water for firefighting operations.
There have been no firefighter injuries.
Investigators from the Office of the Fire Marshal are on scene and have begun their work to determine the origin and cause of the fire.