BERLIN — A residential fire destroyed a Berlin home and sent its owner to the hospital last week.
Around 11:40 p.m. last Thursday, firefighters from Berlin, Showell, Bishopville, Newark, Ocean Pines and Snow Hill responded to a reported house fire at a residence on Bethel Road in Berlin. First-arriving firefighters found the two-story residential structure completely engulfed in flames.
It took the combined fire departments over an hour to bring the blaze under control. According to the Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office, the owner and occupant of the residence awoke to the smell of smoke and was able to escape prior to the fire department’s arrival. Nonetheless, the owner and occupant was transported to Atlantic General Hospital for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation.
According to the fire marshal’s office, there was no smoke alarm activation and the home was not equipped with a residential sprinkler system.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation by the Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office as of midweek. Anyone with information is urged to contact the fire marshal’s office at 410-632-5666, or email Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Matt Owens at [email protected], or the Maryland Arson Hotline at 1-800-492-7529.