Water Damage

A garage attached to an Ellicott City home caught fire yesterday afternoon, causing about $35,000 in property damage, a fire official said. Howard County firefighters responded to the blaze at the two-story house in the 10000 block of Fox Den Road about 4 p.m. and were able to control the fire quickly, said Battalion Chief Richard Blankenship. The dwelling area sustained smoke and water damage, and siding was burned, he said. No one was home at the time, and no firefighters were injured, he said.

Natural gas service had been restored yesterday to about 1,300 of the nearly 2,000 homes and businesses in Overlea affected by dual water and gas main breaks Saturday, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported. But about 200 of those buildings had sustained enough water damage in their gas lines to require the service of a private contractor, BGE officials said, meaning the gas could not be turned on for those customers. The problems began Saturday when 6-inch water and gas mains buried together under Belair Road and Cardwell Avenue burst, and water infiltrated the gas system.

After a second chilly October night in her unheated Overlea home, Irene Zmijewski saw hope in the form of a utility crew when it arrived yesterday morning. A worker descended into her basement, struck a wooden match and lit the pilot light on her furnace -- a procedure that will be repeated in 1,600 homes and businesses this week. But Zmijewski's 52-year-old furnace just wouldn't work. The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. worker told the woman, who was wearing socks inside her gray fleece slippers, that she would probably need to replace her furnace before gas could safely be restored to it. Then he blew out the pilot light and left.

Concerned that moldy carpets, water-damaged windowsills and a musty odor might be making teachers and children sick, Carroll County school officials emptied four portable classrooms yesterday at Mount Airy Middle School and said they will squeeze displaced pupils into the crowded main building until damage is repaired. An air quality technician who inspected a trailer containing the four classrooms Tuesday afternoon took several test samples - the results of which won't be ready for three to four weeks - but recommended that the school not use the portables, which have been in use for at least 22 years.

For a vegetable that can look like such a brute, eggplant is surprisingly fragile. It bruises easily and those flaws quickly turn bad (cut open a dented eggplant and you'll see the flesh is brown and corky in the affected area). It also loses moisture quickly, leading to dry and pithy flesh. When choosing eggplant, pick ones that are heavy for their size. They'll be the freshest. Also feel the skin. If it is a round eggplant, it should be taut and almost bulging. In Asian markets, the long, thin eggplants often are slightly softer.

The churchgoing Towson woman went to cleanse herself of sin. Now, as a direct result, an elderly couple she has never met will soon be able to wash their clothes again in their Northeast Baltimore home. Henry and Marie Boulware, whose washer and dryer were destroyed in a flash flood in June, can expect new appliances to be delivered to their East 35th Street house Thursday. Their Towson benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, paid about $650 yesterday for a washer and dryer at the Sears Outlet in Timonium.

As Anne Arundel County and Annapolis officials worked yesterday to assess Isabel's economic damage, thousands of frustrated residents struggled to restart their businesses and lives in storm-ravaged areas. County Executive Janet S. Owens said it would be months before all the property and environmental damage is repaired. The numbers suggested a heavy toll: 26,000 county residents still without power yesterday, 600 homes with major damage, 72 structures collapsed from the storm. The U.S. Naval Academy also sustained tens of millions of dollars in damage and many lectures have to be relocated because of water damage.

The 51 psychiatric patients displaced by Wednesday's four-alarm fire at Sheppard Pratt Health System in Towson returned to their living quarters yesterday, as hospital officials and historic preservationists alike expressed relief that damage wasn't worse. Lightning struck a cupola atop a five-story section of a 19th-century red-brick building when severe storms blew through the area at 7:58 p.m. Wednesday. The resulting blaze caused the cupola's roof - with ornate slate and gingerbread trim - to collapse.

Just before lunch yesterday, Shun Krause stopped spraying air freshener throughout her Chung King Restaurant in Laurel's Maryland City Plaza. The smoky, charred smell from the fire at the Shoppers Food Warehouse a few doors down Sunday night had dissipated enough to open Chung King -- although customers would have to do without the lunch buffet, and electrical damage had left the specials board a little dimmer than usual. "This is minor," Krause said as she noted slight water damage on the ceiling.

Water from a burst pipe on the roof of Centennial High School caused up to $100,000 in damage to the auditorium this week, a Howard County school system spokeswoman said yesterday. The pipe, part of the Ellicott City school's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system, appeared to have frozen and burst, Howard schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said. The ceiling of the auditorium and the stage area were damaged; the carpet was wet, but probably will not need to be replaced, she said.