Sykesville Family Homeless After Two Alarm Fire

A Sykesville family is staying with relatives after a two alarm fire completely destroyed their home Sunday afternoon.

The blaze in the 200 block of Sellers Private Lane was reported at 11:55 am. The owner of the home, Brian Sellers, was working in his garage about 150 feet from the house when he noticed a large amount of smoke and fire enveloping the rear of his house. He quickly called 911. One of his sons was inside the house,.but escaped safely after being alerted to the danger by a properly functioning smoke alarm.

Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Chief Ed Ruch, Sr. arrived within two minutes of the dispatch to find the house well-involved in fire. He immediately requested a second alarm and a tanker task force to the scene.

Sykesville firefighters attempted to mount an interior attack on the fire, but found conditions inside the home rapidly deteriorating. A Sykesville firefighter's leg went through the floor at one point, but he was able to free himself successfully. It was decided to remove crews from the inside of the home and fight the fire defensively on the exterior.

The fire completely gutted the home. Firefighters were on the scene throughout the afternoon dousing hot spots and cleaning up. There were no injuries.

Firefighters were called back to the scene at approximately 6:15 pm because of the smoldering remains. A backhoe was called in to the scene to raze the remainder of the house to prevent any future rekindles.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire; but it is believed to be accidental in nature, and appears to have started on the exterior of the home.

It is a double tragedy for the Sellers family, who lost their son in a vehicle accident earlier this year. Many of the Sykesville firefighters on the scene Sunday were also involved with that emergency as well. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sellers family at this difficult time.