3 months ago
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA) - A family in Rockville is dealing with a fire-ravaged home and the loss of almost two dozen exotic birds after a blaze ripped through their house early Tuesday morning.
Assistant Chief Scott Graham, spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, says firefighters were alerted to a possible electrical panel fire inside the home at 517 Mannakee Street around 1:30 a.m. Five adults who live in the home had escaped after trying to use a fire extinguisher on the blaze in the basement.
Graham says after firefighters arrived the residents tried to go back inside the burning structure to save their birds. Firefighters were able to restrain them from reentering the home and possibly injuring themselves.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control in approximately 30 minutes. Graham says firefighters discovered 23 pet birds, including Parakeets, Parrots, and Finches, inside the home. Only one bird, a Parakeet, survived.
According to Graham, the family of five was displaced and the damage done to their home was estimated at $100,000. There was also a lot of damage to the contents of the home, also estimated at $100,000 in value.
The cause of the fire is preliminarily classified as accidental and is believed to have started in the basement electrical panel.
Graham says experts have told them birds are extremely sensitive to carbon monoxide and likely died from it during the early stages of the fire. That sensitivity is why mines once used canaries as a crude CO alarm.
