A fire Thursday afternoon that started in a kitchen damaged a home on Rock Spring Road just north of Bel Air.
No injuries were reported, but the two-story home in the 1000 block of Rock Spring appeared to have suffered extensive interior damage.
Firefighters were alerted to the fire, with heavy smoke and flames showing, shortly before 4 p.m., according to monitored Harford County emergency radio dispatches.
The neighborhood where the home is located is between Vale Road and the Bel Air Bypass, a busy travel route for homebound commuters. Police blocked Rock Spring at Vale Road, south of the fire, causing traffic to back up toward the center of Bel Air.
Sheriff's deputies also blocked traffic on Rock Spring Road north of the fire scene near the Harford County Detention Center.
The fire was brought under control by 4:30 p.m. Investigators remained on the scene.
Homeowner Kevin Baum could be seen talking with firefighters with the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and investigators with the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Units from the Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Company could also be seen.
Friends and neighbors comforted Baum, who said he was at work when a neighbor called him about the fire.
"It was all done by the time I got here," he said.
His two dogs and turtle were rescued, but one of the dogs, a St. Bernard mix, had to be resucitated by EMS workers and was taken to a local veterinary hospital.
Baum, 46, said he has lived in the house since 1999.
"Pretty bad," he said when asked to describe the interior damage. "The kitchen, dining room, [the fire was] pretty hot, even the blinds in my living room melted."
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Additional details from fire investigators were not available Thursday evening.
