Rockville, Maryland Fire Leaves 30 Families Homeless

Thirty families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through their apartment building Thursday.

Jan. 27, 2005

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Thirty families were left homeless after a huge fire tore through their apartment building Thursday.

``When we got here it was basically unmanageable,'' said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer. About 125 firefighters responded to the blaze, which Piringer said went to three alarms. No one was hurt.

Investigators think plumbers sweating pipes in the basement of the Rock Creek Woods apartments started a fire in the walls that initially went undetected.

Damage was estimated at $5 million.