April 24--One man is dead and a volunteer firefighter is in critical condition after a three-alarm fire tore through a home in Reisterstown early Wednesday morning, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Steven Stark, 58, of the unit block of Hanover Road, was found in an upstairs hallway of his home during an intense search and rescue effort and transported to Northwest Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead, said Captain Rich Schenning, a department spokesman.
Stark was found after firefighters swarmed the area following a distress call from the local volunteer department.
Gene Kirchner, a firefighter with the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company in his 20s, was among the first responders to the home shortly after 1 a.m. when the heavy fire overwhelmed him and the other volunteers, Schenning said.
"One of the firefighters declared what they call a 'mayday,' which means they're in trouble," Schenning said.
When a special county response team arrived, firefighters found Kirchner injured and unconscious, Schenning said, though he did not know where in or outside the home Kirchner was found.
Kirchner, whose exact age was not immediately available, was resuscitated at the scene and transported to Northwest Hospital Center before being transferred to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday morning, Schenning said.
Firefighters conducting a secondary search of the home located Stark, Schenning said.
About 70 firefighters responded to the blaze, which took them until after 4 a.m. to bring under control, Schenning said.
The investigation into the fire is ongoing, and involves both Baltimore County Police and officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, which Schenning said is standard procedure for fires involving firefighter injury.
No estimate on the extensive damages to the home was immediately available.
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