Post by funnel101 on Jun 3, 2015 11:16:30 GMT -4
Two fires Saturday night, May 30, at Island Professional Park have been ruled arson by the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office. A passerby reported a car on fire in the parking lot at 9:58 p.m., but the call was quickly upgraded to a building fire when witnesses realized a nearby office was also burning. Some 30 firefighters from Kent Island and Grasonville volunteer fire departments responded and controlled the fires in about 20 minutes. No injuries were reported. The car was a 2010 Ford Fusion, owned by Theresa Buckingham and Herbert Thomas, according to Deputy State Fire Marshal Howard Ewing. Island Professional Park is a cluster of one- and two-story, wood-framed office buildings owned by Jody Schulz. The fire was in Suite 200B, where the tenant is Washington Canopies, Schulz said. He said the other side is vacant. It is a single-level unit next door to Chesapeake Cats and Dogs. None of the animals were harmed.
“The fire was pretty much contained inside the structure,” Schulz said. “It didn’t take long to knock it down.”
While Schulz is president of KIVFD, he was not on the call Saturday night. He said he was at a party and only learned about it when his son called him there. Damages were estimated at $65,000 to the building and $5,000 to the contents, according to the fire marshal’s office. Ewing noted there was no smoke alarm and no sprinkler system. Ewing and three other deputy state fire marshals, along with K-9 Charlie, investigated with the assistance of the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office.
The fires were found to be incendiary with two separate points of origin, one inside the car and the other inside the office, Ewing reported.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the fire marshal’s Northeast Regional Office, 410-836-4844 or 1-800-492-7529.
“The fire was pretty much contained inside the structure,” Schulz said. “It didn’t take long to knock it down.”
While Schulz is president of KIVFD, he was not on the call Saturday night. He said he was at a party and only learned about it when his son called him there. Damages were estimated at $65,000 to the building and $5,000 to the contents, according to the fire marshal’s office. Ewing noted there was no smoke alarm and no sprinkler system. Ewing and three other deputy state fire marshals, along with K-9 Charlie, investigated with the assistance of the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office.
The fires were found to be incendiary with two separate points of origin, one inside the car and the other inside the office, Ewing reported.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the fire marshal’s Northeast Regional Office, 410-836-4844 or 1-800-492-7529.
From here: www.myeasternshoremd.com/news/queen_annes_county/article_047cb9c3-5cd0-5911-b777-bf54f1e287d1.html