The Office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating how a fire that caused $150,000 worth of damage to a vacant Bel Air-area house owned by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development started Friday night.
The house is in the 600 block of Lanark Court off Route 543 east of Bel Air. The fire was reported around 11:30 p.m. Friday after being seen by a neighbor, according to a notice of investigation issued by the Fire Marshal's Office Saturday.
It took 30 minutes for members of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company to get the blaze under control. It started in the attic of the two-story dwelling, and it was contained to the attic.
"While it's still under investigation, we cannot rule out an electrical failure of some sort," Senior Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said of the potential cause.
No one was living in the house, but it was "secure," with no indication that someone broke in to set the fire, Alkire said.
The owner listed in the notice of investigation is the secretary of Housing and Urban Development – HUD-owned homes are typically dwellings for which a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage was issued, and were then acquired by the agency after the house went into foreclosure, according to HUD's website.