Tea kettle left on stove caused fire at complex

More than 100 seniors displaced in blaze

A tea kettle left on a stove in a fourth-floor apartment caused a three-alarm fire on Friday night that displaced 100 seniors from a complex in Northwest Baltimore and caused an estimated $280,000 in damage, according to fire investigators.

No one was injured in the blaze that broke out shortly before 11 p.m. in the garden-style apartment complex in the Cheswolde neighborhood, in the 6300 block of Red Cedar Place. Residents were taken to a nearby condominium complex, and the fire was confined to two apartments.

A statement from the Baltimore Fire Department said firefighters worked hard to contained the fire as flames shot through the roof. Volunteer firefighters from Pikesville helped out. "We were very fortunate not to have any injuries or lives lost in such a large operation," Fire Chick James S. Clack said in the statement.

The fire was out shortly before 12:30 a.m. The Fire Department statement says that "the fire was caused by unattended cooking materials identified as a tea kettle being left on the stove burner."

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