Man dies while trying to rescue dogs from Maryland house fire
By Marie Miller
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RANDALLSTOWN, Maryland (WBAL) — A man has died after a house fire Monday night in Baltimore County.
Firefighters were called around 10:14 p.m. to Cherrybrook Road and found the first floor of a home on fire.
One person who was inside was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. That man was identified on Tuesday as Herbert B. Thomas Jr., 67.
County officials said Thomas evacuated during the fire but went back inside to rescue his dogs. Two dogs and Thomas were found together, deceased, in the home, officials said.
Baltimore County Fire Battalion Chief Ed Schwartz told WBAL-TV 11 News there were issued with fighting this fire.
“Bystanders got the door open, which a lot of people think that helps out a lot. Unfortunately, what it does is it opens it up and oxygen gets in there and feeds the fire and it gets a lot hotter a lot faster,” Schwartz told WBAL-TV 11 News. “So, we’re trying to keep our ventilation openings closed as much as we can until we can get the water on the fire. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen tonight, so when we arrived, the fire was literally blowing out into the back yard.”
County police fire investigators ruled the fire accidental due to unattended cooking.
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