MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Investigators say fireworks are to blame for a house fire in Montgomery County that left one person displaced Thursday night.
Firefighters were sent to the home on Brad Drive in the Aspen Hill neighborhood to combat the flames around 11:30 p.m. on July 4.
Paul Wasel lives on Morgal Street, which is behind Brad Drive. The 29-year-old was sitting on the back deck with his dad when he heard a noise.
"We heard a pop," he explained. His mom went to check out what happened.
"Suddenly she says, there's a fire!" he said.
Paul quickly called 911, but in the meantime, he felt like he had to do something.
"In that short moment of time where nobody’s arrived, like what do you do?" he explained. His instincts told him to spring into action.
"What was going through my head was just whether or not someone was in the house," he said as he explained his thought process. "I jumped the fence, ran through, knocked on the door."
No one came to the door, so Paul went to his backyard to check on the status of the fire, which investigators say started in the carport near the back of the house and then spread to the attic and front of the home.
"I think the flames kind of just licked up into the carport and then it was traveling along the carport because when I came around the bend, you could see flames in the front," he explained as he showed us the damage. "There was a car parked not in the carport but just past it and that car eventually started catching fire in the front."
Firefighters eventually arrived, and neighbors told us an older woman lived in the home by herself. But she got out in time and is staying with a family member, much to Paul's relief.
"I thank God that ultimately that woman was able to get out safe and sound. That was the best-case scenario that she was able to get out of the house safely," he said.
WUSA9 was at the home when construction workers arrived and started to board up broken windows and other parts of the home. The smell of charred wood still lingered less than 24 hours later.
Investigators say the fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damages including $400,000 for the structural and $100,000 in contents, a car and a neighbor's shed.
Officials take this time to remind everyone of the dangers of fireworks.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission's latest annual fireworks report estimates that 9,700 people went to an emergency room for injuries related to fireworks nationwide, and eight people died. The report also found there’s been a significant increase in fireworks-related injuries from 2008 to 2023. The report states there has been an increase of about 561 injuries each year.
Montgomery Co. house fire
RELATED: Fireworks light up the skies across the US as Americans endure searing heat to celebrate July Fourth
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