Two overnight fires in Maryland have left an 11-year-old girl and a 73-year-old man fighting for their lives Friday.
The Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company says they pulled the girl from a burning camper home around 1 a.m. in Joppa, 20 miles northeast of Baltimore.
She was taken to the hospital in critical condition with smoke inhalation injuries. The Maryland State Fire Marshal says the girl's parents were at work at the time of the fire.
The second fire happened at 1:30 a.m. in Montgomery County. County fire officials say a 73-year-old man suffered second and third degree burns while trying to put out a fire at his North Bethesda home before firefighters arrived.
"He attempted to use a fire extinguisher and potentially a pot of water to combat that fire. Both of those attempts were unsuccessful," said Interim Fire Chief Scott Goldstein.
Goldstein says residents shouldn't try to put out a fire themselves as the process only delays fire fighters from arriving.
"Once you're alerted to a fire and smoke conditions, call 911, evacuate all of your occupants, friends and family out of the structure, and let the fire department arrive and determine the source of that fire."
About 75 firefighters were called to the 2-alarm fire in the 10-900 block of Brewer House Road in North Bethesda.
Residents in several neighboring townhomes were evacuated.
The homeowner, who also suffered from smoke inhalation, was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
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Fire officials say an outlet on the first level of the home started the fire. Damages are estimated at $450,000. Two families have been displaced.
