Fire Officials

One Harford County firefighter suffered burns and another became ill while combating a house fire Saturday night in the 1700 block of Harbinger Trail, Edgewood. The incident was reported at about 8 p.m. at a two-story, single family home, according to fire officials. Initial response came from the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, along with the Abingdon Fire Company, Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company and the Aberdeen Proving Ground Fire Department. Fire officials thought there may have have been one person inside, so firefighters entered the house with hoses and began extinguishing fire on both floors.

A two-alarm fire that began in a trash compactor temporarily displaced about 20 residents of a Towson apartment building late Sunday and into Monday morning, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department. The residents of the Virginia Towers complex, in the 500 block of Virginia Avenue, were evacuated from the building shortly after 11 p.m., when firefighters responded for reports of smoke in several floors of the building and located the fire in the building's compactor, the department said.

City confirmed Saturday that a man and a woman whose bodies were found in a burning car in West Baltimore early Friday morning had been shot. Police said it was still not clear whether they were killed by bullets or the fire and had no more information on the cause of the blaze. The fire was discovered at about 5 a.m. in the 2000 block of N. Monroe St. in the Mondawmin neighborhood, fire officials said. "Whether or not they are fire victims or otherwise has to be determined by the state medical examiner," Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said Friday.

Anne Arundel County Fire Department officials say a fire in a vacant building in Glen Burnie on Monday resulted in no injuries, but caused an estimated $10,000 in damage. At about 5:30 p.m., county fire officials received multiple 911 calls reporting a building fire in the 400 block of Crain Highway North. Responding units saw fire from the second floor of the vacant two-story building, officials said, and elevated it to a second alarm, bringing some 50 firefighters to the scene.

Howard County fire officials say two people were injured in an apartment fire that occurred Saturday evening in the 9100 block of Gracious End Court in Columbia. Shortly before 8 p.m., Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue units responded to an automatic fire alarm, and the county 911 center also received calls about a fire and a possible burn victim. Responders found there had been a flash fire in the dining room of a third floor apartment. Officials said the fire caused a sprinkler to activate, and the blaze was extinguished.

A fire at an Anne Arundel trailer park Wednesday morning killed one person and destroyed a double-wide mobile home, fire officials said. Firefighters responded to a call at 8:25 a.m. for a dwelling fire in the first block of Zona Street, in the Parkway Village mobile home park in Maryland City. The blaze took 40 firefighters from four departments 45 minutes to bring it under control, officials said. Firefighters found the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene and has not been identified, after the fire had been put out, officials said.

A fire broke out on a third-story balcony of an apartment building on Sunday morning, Baltimore City fire officials said. Firefighters were dispatched at 10:03 a.m., to a working fire on a rear exterior balcony at 1010 W. Baltimore St., which is listed online as the Hollins House. The fire was cleared at 11:13 a.m. There were no known injuries, and no one was evacuated during the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation, fire officials said. Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Anne Arundel County fire officials on Wednesday identified the victim of a Gambrills house fire earlier this month. Blanche Anderson, 92, had been found unconscious by firefighters on the first floor of a home in the 1300 block of Tenbrook Road that was engulfed in flames on Dec. 12, according to the fire department. When firefighters arrived around 5:30 p.m., heavy smoke and flames were reported. A neighbor had called 911 after hearing calls for help coming from another resident, a 15-year-old, who jumped from a second-floor window, fire officials said.

About 50 Harford County fire fighters battled an early morning, two-alarm blaze Thursday in Havre de Grace, according to Harford County fire officials. At appproximately 4:37 a.m., fire crews were called to the 4000 block of U Way for a reported fire with rescue, fire officials said. The first arriving units encountered fire coming through the roof. A second alarm was requested and approximately 50 fire fighters from Level, Aberdeen Susquehanna Hose and Cecil County were called to put out the fire.

Two local residents have died in separate house fires this week, including an elderly man in a two-alarm blaze in the Jacksonville-area Thursday morning. According to the Baltimore County Fire department, the fire occurred just after midnight in a single-family home at the 5600 block of Sweet Air Road. Baltimore and Harford county fire officials responded to the heavy fire, and officials said that because there were no hydrants in the area extra crews were called to assist with water, which was shuttled from a nearby natural water source.