Daily Voice
By Zak Failla From Daily Voice
A $1.5 million fire tore through a Maryland apartment building before sunrise Monday, leveling 14 apartments and forcing about 25 residents out of their homes as flames shot across the waterfront sky.
Fire crews were dispatched shortly after 6:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 17, to the 3900 block of Gordon Stinnett Avenue in Chesapeake Beach, where they arrived to find the courtyard fully involved and flames already chewing through the attic, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office.
What unfolded was a full-scale firestorm.
The Calvert County fire.
Photos show black smoke towering into the sunrise, a continuous wall of flames running the length of the roof, and firefighters from all corners of Calvert County attacking the blaze by land and by marina.
The Calvert County fire.
By the time the flames were knocked down, the numbers told the story.
Investigators say that 14 apartments were destroyed, more than two dozen people were displaced, including one who was hospitalized. The damage to the structure is estimated at $1.5 million, with an additional $250,000 in content loss.
The Calvert County fire.
Deputy State Fire Marshals determined the fire started on a first-level balcony in the courtyard area.
The Calvert County fire.
There is no evidence of a criminal act, and investigators say high winds and the building’s exterior ignition point helped the fire race into the attic and across the roof.
Every fire company in Calvert County responded, backed by the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and the Red Cross, which is now working with families who lost everything.
The Calvert County fire.
By mid-morning, daylight revealed what the flames left behind: entire roof sections missing, charred framing exposed to the open sky, melted windows, and firefighters still hitting hot spots around the collapsed units.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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