March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Crownsville fire claims fifth fatality of 2018

Fatal FireWorking smoke alarms allowed one person to escape and led to the rescue of a second person from a fire early Saturday morning fire in the Waterbury Heights community of Crownsville.
Just before 1:30 a.m., Anne Arundel County 9-1-1 began receiving multiple calls reporting a home on fire in the 1100 block of Waterbury Heights Road. A female resident of the home was alerted by smoke alarms and went to the neighbor’s house to call 9-1-1. A full one alarm was dispatched bringing a total of 30 firefighters to the scene. Firefighters arrived and neighbors informed them that the 86-year-old female resident of the home was in the upstairs back bedroom. The neighbors had a ladder in place and firefighters immediately made entry into the bedroom and removed the resident. Paramedics provided life saving-treatment to the female on location and transported her to Baltimore Washington Medical Center with critical, life-threatening injuries. On Saturday morning the 86-year-old female rescued by firefighters died from her injuries. She is identified as Mary Anderson, the owner of the home.

With all residents out of the home, and due to the intensity of the fire, firefighters remained outside to extinguish the fire. This area of the County does not have fire hydrants so a Water Supply Task Force was requested bringing additional tankers and a water supply engine, along with an additional thirty firefighters to the incident
The fire was brought under control in under 90 minutes.
Members of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department Fire and Explosives Investigation Unit were called to the scene to conduct an investigation. The house is a total loss but no dollar estimate has been established. Investigators are requesting that anyone with video or pictures from the fire contact them at 410-222-TIPS.
Ms. Anderson is the fifth fire-related death in Anne Arundel County in 2018:
  • April 24th- a dwelling fire in the 3300 block of Sudlersville South in Maryland City killed Mary Lanthrip, an 84-year-old resident of the home. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental, originating in the kitchen area of the home. There were working smoke alarms in the house.
  • April 21st- a fire in a dwelling used as a group home in the 7900 block of Stone Hearth Road in Severn killed two residents and an employee. Residents Walter McCardell, 61, and William Garcia, 44, and an employee, Barbara Brown, 66, were killed in the accidental fire. The fire was the result of an electrical fault in a duplex electrical receptacle located in a rear bedroom of the residence. There were working smoke alarms in the house.
The cause of Saturday’s fire in Crownsville remains under investigation.
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