Family Displaced By Blaze In Waldorf

A Waldorf family was displaced from its home after a fire caused $75,000 in damage last week. It was the first blaze of the season in Charles County caused by improperly handled ashes from a fireplace, fire officials said.

A neighbor of the two-story house on Iceland Gull Court reported the fire about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday. The family was not home.

The fire began in the living room and spread to furniture. A state fire marshal's investigation determined that the ashes caused the fire.

"This is the first one we've had this year, but there will probably be more," said Dan Stevens, chief of the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department, which usually fights about five fires caused by smoldering ashes each winter. "People just don't think."

The fire marshal's report listed the house's occupants as members of the Morilly family. They were being assisted by relatives and the American Red Cross, officials said.

"The moral of the story is that ashes should be definitely put in a metal container," Stevens said. Waldorf has had several fires that began four days after ashes were removed from a fireplace or wood stove, he said.

Ashes should be left in a closed metal container, especially if stored outside, Stevens said. They should be left to cool at least four or five days, unless it has been raining, before they are put in compost piles, gardens or trash, he said.

"If there is an ember or piece of unburned wood, the other ashes actually insulate it and smolder in there for two to three days . . . and as many as four days," Stevens said.

Thirty percent of house fires occur in winter, U.S. Fire Administration statistics say. Many of those occur during the holidays, sparked by dried-out Christmas trees, lights, candles and fireplaces, Stevens said.

A small fire broke out at 11:43 a.m. Wednesday at the Thunderbird Hotel in Newburg, causing $5,000 in damage. The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction, and the hotel remained open, a fire marshal's report said.