About 50 volunteer firefighters, working in temperatures in the high 80s with oppressive humidity by late Tuesday morning, extinguished a blaze at a home just north of Bel Air that caused serious damage to the garage.
Firefighters from the Abingdon, Bel Air, Fallston and Joppa-Magnolia fire companies responded to the 500 block of Henderson Road. They were alerted to the fire at 10:33 a.m., and it took about 20 minutes to get it under control, according to Bel Air fire Lt. Tom Harrington.
No one was injured, Harrington said.
Harrington noted the Maryland State Firemen's Association's annual conference and convention is happening this week in Ocean City, meaning local fire companies that have members attending the conference must call in extra manpower from neighboring companies. The convention lasts through Friday.
"We got extra resources because of limited manpower, plus the heat," Harrington said.
The temperature stood at 88 degrees as firefighters began to clear out, and it had reached 90 degrees by the early afternoon.
Harrington said it takes more time for firefighters to rest and rehabilitate themselves as they rotate back and forth from fighting a fire during a hot day.
He said the fire started in the garage, and firefighters contained it to that part of the house. Portions of the siding had been pulled off, along with the vent over the garage door.
The homeowners were not home when the fire started, and firefighters had to force the front door and garage door open, Harrington said.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire. According to a notice of investigation released late Tuesday afternoon, the preliminary cause was an electrical failure inside the garage.
Damage is estimated at $20,000 to the structure and $10,000 to the contents.
The homeowner and other occupants of the dwelling were not home at the time of the fire. The Fire Marshal's Office said they were not displaced.
Neighborhood residents gathered along Henderson Road across from the fire scene, and a residential street they said is normally quiet was crowded with fire trucks and ambulances.
"It's always quiet around here," said Tyler Lanham, who has lived on Henderson Road with his parents and siblings for about seven or eight years.
Lanham said he saw a lot of smoke coming from the house, but hardly any flames.
"It was pretty smoky, but I didn't see any flames until they took the siding off," he said.
Joseph Blume, who lives across the street from the house that burned, said his grandson's construction crew was working on his property when they saw the smoke.
He said a worker told him about the smoke coming from the garage, and Blume called 911.
"I just dialed 911 and told them where it was, and [firefighters] got here pretty quick," he said.
Blume said he saw smoke coming out of the roof vent over the garage door. He said another neighbor called the homeowner and told him about the fire.
Blume, who has lived along Henderson Road for about 18 years, said neighborhood residents "talk back and forth pretty often."
"We help each other out," he said.