MCFRS News Release

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Fire and Explosive Investigators Have a Busy Week

Montgomery County, MD - - -  Fire and Explosive Investigators returned to the scene of Wednesday night’s large fire in Germantown yesterday to continue their investigation into what possibly sparked the fire. Firefighters were dispatched shortly after 7:30 p.m. to 17001 Germantown Road on February 20th for the report of a fire. Units arrived on the scene and reported a large commercial warehouse building fully engulfed in flames and requested additional resources. At the height of operations, over 75 firefighters battled the blaze. The warehouse was considered a total loss and belongs to High Point Catering.

Units remained on the scene for several hours Wednesday night and preliminary damage estimates were $500,000. There is no indication of anything suspicious and investigators listed the cause of the fire as undetermined earlier today.      
 
In a separate fire on Thursday, February 21st, firefighters were dispatched shortly after 4:30 a.m. to 175 Watts Branch Parkway in Rockville for the initial report of a fire in the woods. Crews arrived on the scene and found a large, vacant building with heavy fire and smoke conditions. A second alarm was dispatched and additional units requested. The fire was well-advanced upon the arrival of firefighters. Crews extinguished the large blaze and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. The building, which served as a former residential treatment facility for youth and operated under the name of the “Karma Academy,” closed several years ago. The building was boarded up and vacant at the time of the fire and officials report an estimated $250,000 in damages to the structure.

There were no injuries reported in either fire.

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