Caught Fire

A Howard Transit bus driver yesterday stopped her vehicle and ushered the passengers to safety just before the vehicle caught fire outside Howard Community College in Columbia. Sharon Smith, deputy administrator for Corridor Transportation Corp., which manages the 26-vehicle fixed route system, said the incident occurred about 9 a.m. The driver, who did not want her name released, smelled gasoline and got her three passengers out of the 2000 Ford bus, which then caught fire. The bus had traveled 459,781 miles, well over the normal 300,000 replacement standard, according to Smith.

A Mr. Tire employee is recovering from first- and second-degree burns after a car fire broke out in the Parkville auto repair shop Friday. County fire officials responded to the shop in the 7700 block of Harford Road at around 3:50 p.m. where they saw smoke and flames in the front of the building, and found that a man had suffered burns, according to a release from the department. Emergency personnel took the patient to Bayview Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries, fire officials said.

An Edgewater man has died after his vehicle crashed and caught fire in Davidsonville, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. Steven M. Hilgenberg, 48, was driving his 1999 GMC Safari van in the 1400 block of Governor Bridge Road about 8 p.m. Friday, when he crossed the center line and crashed into mailboxes on the road's shoulder, police said. The vehicle's tires became stuck in the dirt and the van caught fire as Hilgenberg gunned his engine trying to free the vehicle, police said.

A homeless man suffered second and third degree burns that covered about 75 percent of his body after he caught fire Wednesday afternoon outside the Canton Safeway supermarket, fire officials said. Firefighters were called to the 2600 block of Boston Street about 1:45 p.m. for reports of a brush fire when they found the unidentified man who had caught fire, said Kevin Cartwright, a fire department spokesman. The unidentified man was taken to Bayview Medical Center, where he remains in serious condition, Cartwright said.

A Hampstead man killed early Sunday when his car struck a utility pole and caught fire in northern Harford County apparently had fallen asleep at the wheel, according to state police in Bel Air. Christopher Martin Snyder, 37, of the 1300 block of Main St. was pronounced dead about 3 a.m. Sunday at the scene in the 4600 block of Graceton Road near Pylesville, where he was trapped in his 1999 Pontiac Grand Am, police said. The car apparently was southbound near Wheeler School Road when it crossed the center line, struck the pole, flipped several times and caught fire, police said.

EARLEVILLE - A Philadelphia man died in an early morning fire yesterday in Cecil County that destroyed his vacation camper, state fire marshals said. Robert James Hillman, 51, was unable to escape his camper when it caught fire about 2 a.m. at Indian Acres Campground in the 600 block of Knight Island Road.

Three boys were charged with second-degree arson yesterday after accidentally setting fire to an 81-year-old church east of the Carroll County line, Baltimore County police said. Deer Park United Methodist Church in the 6100 block of Deer Park Road near Reisterstown sustained $250,000 in damage when its roof caught fire after midnight yesterday, police said. No one was injured. Police believe the boys - ages 12, 13 and 14 - had been burning materials near the church when it caught fire.

FIRE* Sykesville: A shed in the area of Oklahoma Road and Norris Avenue caught fire Wednesday night. Engines from Sykesville, Winfield, Gamber and Howard County responded to the blaze at 9:57 p.m. They were out for 20 minutes.Fire companies from Sykesville and Winfield, as well as Howard County, responded to an electrical fire in the 600 block of Obrecht Road at 9:42 p.m. Wednesday. The units were out for 20 minutes.Sykesville firefighters responded to a tree fire in the 500 block of Martz Road at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday.

An Annapolis man was killed late Sunday when his car went off the road and caught fire, Anne Arundel County police said. Glenn Thomas McNamara, 42, of the first block of Acorn Drive, was driving his Jeep Cherokee east on Acorn Drive in Annapolis when it left the road near Pafel Road. The Jeep became stuck in the grass next to the road. When McNamara tried to free the vehicle, the spinning tires dug into the dirt and caught fire. McNamara died of injuries from the fire. The cause of the crash and fire are being investigated.

The steeple of a Harford County church was struck by lightning and caught fire during a thunderstorm yesterday. The fire, reported about 6 p.m. at St. Mary's of the Assumption on Mountain Road in Joppa, was contained to the steeple and small portion of the roof, said a spokesman for the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company. The church was occupied, but no one was injured. Damage estimates were not available.

A fire during a vehicle testing operation Thursday morning in the Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground left one employee dead and critically injured two others. "The crew of three was testing a vehicle and a malfunction occurred with an ensuing fire," said George Mercer, a spokesman for the Army base. Officials at the Harford County base said they will follow the Army's 24-hour policy for releasing the names of the victims - all civilians - and will disclose the information today.

A man died yesterday after catching fire behind a Fells Point building where scenes of Homicide: Life on the Street used to be filmed. The incident happened shortly before 11:30 a.m. near Broadway and Thames Street, a well-traveled thoroughfare. The man, whose identity was not available, was ablaze when firefighters arrived at the scene, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman. Firefighters extinguished the flames, but the man died. His clothed body was found about 30 feet behind a fence blocking the area next to the harbor.

Clothing catches fire, woman, 85, dies Fire officials say an 85-year-old woman died yesterday after her clothing caught fire at her house in Jarrettsville. Deputy State Fire Marshal Joseph Zurolo said the fire was first reported at 9:41 a.m. He said Dorothy Marie Beall was in her basement apartment in the 3200 block of Seiter Lane when the fire broke out. Investigators believe she decided to add more pellets to a stove in the apartment. While she was doing this, her clothing apparently caught fire.

A Howard Transit bus driver yesterday stopped her vehicle and ushered the passengers to safety just before the vehicle caught fire outside Howard Community College in Columbia. Sharon Smith, deputy administrator for Corridor Transportation Corp., which manages the 26-vehicle fixed route system, said the incident occurred about 9 a.m. The driver, who did not want her name released, smelled gasoline and got her three passengers out of the 2000 Ford bus, which then caught fire. The bus had traveled 459,781 miles, well over the normal 300,000 replacement standard, according to Smith.

A fire swept through a Baltimore rowhouse early yesterday morning, killing one man and injuring a woman, according to Fire Department officials. Witnesses said that a mattress caught fire on the second floor of the building in the 2100 block of N. Calvert St. and that flames quickly spread to other rooms and floors. When fire crews arrived about 3 a.m., they found the second and third floors of the building engulfed in flames, said Kevin Cartwright, chief public information officer for the Baltimore City Fire Department.

A tanker rig overturned and burst into flames yesterday evening on a curving interstate ramp over Baltimore's South Hanover Street, killing the driver and sending a burning stream of its load of ethanol into the street below, igniting a row of parked vehicles, authorities said. The wreckage burned for more than three hours as firefighters sprayed water and foam into the flames - with the driver's body still in the truck cab. His name and the company he worked for were not divulged last night, but the tanker - which was carrying 8,000 gallons of ethanol - was from a local trucking company, said Cpl. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

An unoccupied Ellicott City townhouse was destroyed by a fire yesterday morning, fire officials said. The house, which was under construction near Kaiser Drive and Executive Park Drive, caught fire about 9:40 a.m., said M. Sean Kelly, a spokesman for the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services. No one was at the house at the time of the fire, which was extinguished about 11:30 a.m., Kelly said. Authorities are investigating, Kelly said.

A Harper's Choice townhouse sustained $140,000 in damage in a fire early yesterday, officials said.The two-story home, in the 5500 block of Suffield Court, caught fire about 5 a.m., but the family living there escaped after a smoke alarm sounded, fire officials said.The cause of the blaze has not been determined and is being investigated by the state fire marshal."There was lots of smoke," said neighbor Barbara Jay, 62. "The firemen went back in and searched a few times, but everybody had gotten out."

A Harford County house fire that went undetected, possibly for several days, may have caused the death of the 68-year-old homeowner, authorities said yesterday. Raymond A. Hull was the sole occupant of the ranch house in the 300 block of Forest Valley Road in Forest Hill, fire officials said. A family friend, concerned that he had not heard from Hull for several days, discovered the body and the charred living room shortly after noon yesterday and called 911. Volunteer firefighters from companies in Bel Air and Fallston responded but found no evidence of fire outside of the home.

An Edgewater man has died after his vehicle crashed and caught fire in Davidsonville, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. Steven M. Hilgenberg, 48, was driving his 1999 GMC Safari van in the 1400 block of Governor Bridge Road about 8 p.m. Friday, when he crossed the center line and crashed into mailboxes on the road's shoulder, police said. The vehicle's tires became stuck in the dirt and the van caught fire as Hilgenberg gunned his engine trying to free the vehicle, police said.