5-22-2025 4:07am

Lightning Torches

Lightning Sparks House Fire, Killing 2 Dogs And Destroying Home: MD Fire Marshal

Friday's storms produced lightning that ignited a house fire in Jarrettsville. Two dogs died in that fire that destroyed the home.

JARRETTSVILLE, MD — Two dogs died in a house fire Friday in Jarrettsville that likely was sparked by lightning, officials say.

The fire broke out around 6:10 p.m. May 16 at a home located in the 2300 block of Schuster Road. The two-story, single-family home was equipped with fire sprinklers, but investigators believe the fire started in the attic where sprinklers aren't located, investigators with the Maryland Office of the Fire Marshal reported. The cause has been blamed on a lightning strike, officials stated, and the fire "rapidly spread throughout the home."

"The area experienced severe thunderstorms, and surrounding neighbors observed, heard and felt a lightning strike. Investigators later confirmed the home was struck by lighting by verified lightning strike reports," the office of the state fire marshal's office stated.

Around 45 firefighters with the Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company battled the two-alarm fire that was discovered by a neighbor. It took them around an hour to gain control of the fire. Because of the home's location, numerous tankers had to be used to help extinguish the fire, the state fire marshal's office stated.

The cost of loss and damages has been estimated at $1.2 million, which includes the home, its contents and a vehicle parked inside the garage, the state fire marshal's office stated. The home and contents have been declared a total loss. Heavy machinery was brought in to help with cleanup.

A A GoFundMe has been set up for a family whose roof was destroyed in Friday's tornado that ran from Baltimore City to Dundalk, while more than a dozen households in the region were displaced by storm damage. Donations are still being accepted here.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down at 5:51 p.m. Friday in Federal Hill, traveled 5.75 miles, heading slightly southeast, and lifted at 6:01 p.m. near Stansbury Park. Peak winds reached 110 mph, classifying the twister as an EF-1, the second-weakest category on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

There were no injuries or fatalities from the tornado reported in Maryland, but the same storm system caused two deaths in Northern Virginia, where trees were blown down on cars.