3 Die, 4 Escape in Blaze at New Home

Ashley McNerney has always been a light sleeper, so the smoke detector roused the 21-year-old Rockville native, and she was able to wake up two friends and escape an early morning fire that killed three people, including her best friend, her parents said yesterday.

Before fleeing the large waterfront home near St. Michaels, Md., the three tried frantically to find their other friends, said McNerney's mother, Pat McNerney. "They wanted so much to reach them," she said, her voice breaking. "But they just couldn't because of the flames."

Yesterday, fire officials continued investigating the cause of the blaze, which broke out about 2 a.m. The 6,400-square-foot new house is owned by Matthew and Margaret Fitzgerald, who were in New Jersey at the time of the fire.

The victims had not been identified yesterday, but the Associated Press reported that two of the three killed were the Fitzgeralds' children. The McNerneys said a third victim was Christine Maier, who attended Magruder High School in Rockville with their daughter and went to the University of Maryland with one of the Fitzgeralds' children.

The victims' bodies were found in a crawl space, Deputy State Fire Marshal Joe Zurolo said. Another of the Fitzgeralds' children, a 15-year-old girl, escaped through the front door, and McNerney, Rosemary Sharpe, 21, of College Park and Tyler Gras, 20, of Annapolis escaped through second-floor bedroom windows.

McNerney awoke and "started shaking Rosemary, who was dead to the world," her father, David McNerney, said yesterday. "She ran to the adjoining bedroom and started shaking the other boy, from Annapolis, to get him up."

McNerney and Maier had been close since childhood and "were like sisters," Pat McNerney said. "They always told each other they loved each other."

Pat McNerney said the family is devastated by the loss of such a close friend. "We just offer our condolences at the loss of all the beautiful children."

The Fitzgeralds moved into the house in February after tearing down another home on the property. Investigators said damage might exceed $1.2 million.

St. Michaels had recently enacted legislation requiring new homes to include a sprinkler system, said Jason M. Mowbray, deputy chief state fire marshal. The house fell just outside the town's limits and didn't have one.