Family of 6 Displaced By Town Home Fire in Montgomery Village

A family of six was unharmed but displaced from its home following a fire in their Montgomery Village town house early Tuesday, a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson told Patch.

Fire and Rescue units were dispatched shortly before 1 a.m. to the 19900 block of Spur Hill Drive, MCFR spokesperson Beth Anne Nesselt said. First arriving units found a basement fire and requested additional resources, she said.

The small fire was located and extinguished, Nesselt said. The occupants of the home—two adults and four children—were awakened by the activated smoke alarm, she said. The family fled the house and called 911.

"A $20 smoke alarm probably saved their lives," Nesselt said.

Approximately 80 percent of fire fatalities occur in homes where there are no present or working smoke alarms, and most occur between midnight and 6 a.m. when people are asleep and least prepared, Nesselt said.

"Working smoke alarms are really your first defense in knowing there’s a fire in your house," Nesselt said. "Whether it’s [1 a.m. or 2 p.m.], without that working smoke alarm, you may not know until it’s too late that there’s a fire in your home."

Investigators ruled the fire accidental and say it was caused by an unknown failure or malfunction of electronic equipment, Nesselt said. Damages are estimated at $50,000.