NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION
Date: 4/2/2017
Time: 10:04 AM
Location / Address: 1222 Sharon Acres Road, Forest Hill, Harford County
Type of Incident: Dwelling Fire
Description of Structure / Property: Two-story, single family dwelling
Owner / Occupants: Donald Hart (Owner/Occupant) - A total of (10) people resided in the home. (8) adults and (2) children -ages 11 and 16. A girlfriend of one of the adults and her (2) children - ages 8 and 5, were also in the home at the time of the fire.
Injuries or Deaths: Mr. Hart sustained minor smoke inhalation. He was treated on scene by EMS and refused transport.
Estimated $ Loss: Structure: $25,000.00 Contents: $25,000.00
Smoke Alarm Status: Present and operated on each level of the home
Fire Alarm / Sprinkler Status: Not present
Arrests(s): N/A
Primary Responding Fire Department: Jarrettsville - assisted by Fallston, Bel Air, Norrisville and Whiteford
# of Alarms: 1 # Of Firefighters: 25
Time to Control: 10 minutes
Discovered By: Owner/occupants (via smoke alarms)
Area of Origin: Dining Room
Preliminary Cause: Juvenile fire play - Interview conducted by on scene investigators garnered a juvenile (age 8), son of visiting girlfriend, admitting to playing with matches. The fire was determined not to be malicious or intentional.
Additional Information: A total of (13) people were inside the home at
the time of the fire. Everyone with the exception of the visiting 8 and
5-year-old were asleep in their bedrooms. Smoke alarms awoke the sleeping
occupants. Mr. Hart discovered a fire within his dining room. He instructed the
remainder of the occupants to exit the home. He attempted to extinguish the
fire with water to no avail and the fire spread rapidly beyond his control. He
exited the home, closing the front door behind him. This action essentially
contained the fire to the dining room. Firefighters later made entry and were
able to contain the fire to the dining room with extensive heat, smoke and soot
damage to the adjacent kitchen. The remainder of the home sustained minor soot
and smoke damage. A bedroom/home office adjacent to the dining room sustained
no damage due to a hollow core door preventing the fire to spread into the
room. Deputy State Fire Marshals believe, without a doubt, Harford County
avoided multiple-fire fatalities due to working smoke alarms. This is the third
time in as many days, working smoke alarms are credited with waking sleeping
occupants to a fire inside their home in Harford/Cecil Counties. Harford County Disaster Assistance is assisting.
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