A Capital View home caught fire Sunday night, causing roughly $35,000 in damage. The incident displaced a family of two and a pet, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) Chief Spokesperson Pete Piringer.
Before the fire department reached the residence, one resident attempted to extinguish the flames from inside the house, MCFRS Assistant Chief David Pazos told us.
Fire timeline
On Sunday, shortly after 8 p.m., crews responded to a call for “heavy” black smoke “coming from the residence,” on Meadowneck Court in Silver Spring. Upon arrival, first responders initially reported a garage fire, Pazos said in an 8:17 p.m. X post.
On-scene coverage of the fire suggested it came from an on-fire car parked in the garage, from which the fire had spread to the floor above.
Investigators from the Fire and Explosive Unit – also known as the bomb squad – visited the scene and determined the car didn’t cause the fire.
What happened?
Instead, the homeowner had discarded grilling material improperly – “placed too close to the home where the vehicle was” – Pazos said. Over time, the discarded grilling material continued to “feed up” in its container.
Eventually, it “caught the contents of what was carrying the discarded material on fire, and then they caught the garage and then the car on fire,” he said.
Piringer said in an X post that the improperly stored grilling materials included “(misused) charcoal igniting bag & nearby combustibles” in the garage, such as wood chip fire starters.
MCFRS officials identified the vehicle in the garage as a “hybrid car.” As a result of the improperly discarded grilling materials, many items in the garage caught fire, including the car, Pazos told us. MCFRS concluded there was an electric battery in the car that had been compromised from the fire. Officials called in a hazmat team to address the car’s observed off-gassing.
The garage the morning after.
On Monday morning, we checked out the scene. A strong smell of smoke lingered in the air as much of the debris from the previous night’s fire rested in a pile adjacent to the garage. A fire extinguisher just behind what we identified as a blackened 2017 Subaru Outback stuck out from the pile.
Approximately 45 minutes after crews first responded to the fire, Pazos posted the fire was “under control.”
Both occupants and their pet had evacuated unharmed by the time first responders arrived at the house. The fire was ruled to be accidental.
