A Lake Linganore house fire Saturday afternoon displaced two people and caused extensive damage, according to a fire official.
Chris Moe, deputy chief of the New Market Volunteer Fire Company, said "a pretty decent amount of fire" was coming out of two basement windows in the front of the house when firefighters arrived. The fire had also spread onto the first floor.
The initial dispatch around 12:30 p.m. involved five engines, two ladder trucks, one rescue squad, one ambulance and other personnel, Moe said. Additional units were later called.
"Smoke and water damage will affect the whole house," Moe said. "The actual fire damage probably only affected [areas to the] right of the front door, but that's probably most of the house."
Michael Donofrio, the owner of the house in the 10300 block of Greenlea Court, said the fire started in the basement.
"I was upstairs in the kitchen area, I heard a pop. I went downstairs and this one room was totally pretty much in flames," said Donofrio, standing in his neighbor's driveway with his dog Milo. "I ran upstairs then I ran back downstairs to see if there was possibly anything that I can do, but then there was just too much smoke by then."
At that point, he said, he gathered his dog and left the house. His housemate is currently in Florida.
Donofrio, who has lived in the house for 17 years, said he suspected an overheated lamp started the fire. Moe said that the cause had not yet been determined.
A fire investigator was still assessing the house as of around 3 p.m., Moe said. The investigator will determine the cost of the damage.
"They said the downstairs is totally destroyed and the bedrooms [on the first floor] are pretty heavily damaged," said Donofrio, adding that he will stay with a friend.
Moe said Donofrio and his housemate would not be able to occupy the house "any time soon."
The firefighters' response was somewhat hindered by the fact that a fire hydrant near the house was buried under a good amount of snow. Moe said that area residents have been asked to dig out their neighborhood hydrants. For this call, firefighters had to rely on a tanker for extra water until the hydrant was freed, he said.
"The one hydrant that we needed was not dug out so that definitely affected our water supply issue," he said.
Copyright 2016 - The Frederick News-Post, Md
