March 8, 2019 | by Deirdre Byrne

Dozens of Residents Affected By Gaithersburg Apartment Fire

According to Pete Piringer, the chief spokesperson for Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services, 24 apartment units at the Saybrooke Apartment building on Sunny Brook Terrace in Gaithersburg were affected by a fire Friday.

The initial 911 call came at 1:30 p.m. from a passerby in the “area of mid-county highway and Woodfield Road,” said Piringer.

When Derwood Fire & Rescue arrived at the scene, Piringer said they called for “a second alarm.” Because of “heavy fire conditions” at the three apartment building, eventually “there were about 100 firefighters on the scene.”

Piringer said, “Firefighters did assist some residents from the building, several of whom have been transported to the hospital with smoke inhalations, others with some minor injuries.”

According to Piringer, as of Friday afternoon, no firefighter has been injured, and none of the injuries residents have to look life-threatening.

However, Piringer said that many of the families living at the Saybrooke Apartment building will be displaced.

“Pretty significant loss as far as damage,” said Piringer.

Piringer said that Red Cross was called to the scene of the incident and that the Gaithersburg fire marshall was also at the scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Piringer said that it’s been “knocked down.”

Updates: 

Since MCM has published this story we’ve learned…

  • Piringer tweeted, “numerous families will be displaced” — there’s still no definitive number.
  • Three civilians were transported to the hospital for minor injuries, according to Piringer.
  • Firefighters also assisted pets from the building. It’s unclear if any pets were injured.
  • There’s $800,000 worth of damage to the apartment building.
  • The fire originated on the second-floor balcony of the apartment building.
  • Piringer tweeted that “improperly discarded smoking materials” caused the fire.

At 8:58 p.m. Friday, Piringer tweeted, “The fire heavily damaged three (3) apt units, while three (3) received considerable water damage, and 18 units are left without water and electricity. This was compounded by the design of water and electricity connection/supplies to the two (2) connected buildings (202 & 204).”

This story was updated at 9 p.m. on Friday, March 8. It is still developing.

Images and Video of the Saybrooke Fire

Pete Piringer posted pictures and videos at the scene of the fire on his Twitter. Take a look at the media below.

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Deirdre Byrne

About Deirdre Byrne

Deirdre Byrne is a social media coordinator for Montgomery Community Media. She can be reached at dbyrne@mymcmedia.org or on twitter at @DeirdreByrneMCM.
View all posts by Deirdre Byrne

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