Smoke Inhalation

Hospital officials have determined that an elderly man pulled from a fire Tuesday at his home north of Hagerstown died of smoke inhalation, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said Thursday in a news release. Delbert G. Summerville, 88, 12809 The Terrace, died Wednesday afternoon at Meritus Medical Center, according to Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst. Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Jason Eckstine said at the scene of the fire that rescue personnel received a call at about 10:16 a.m. Tuesday that a man was trapped in the basement of a burning home in the 12800 block of The Terrace.

An electrical malfunction in a stereo speaker caused a fire that sent a Clear Spring woman to the hospital Thursday morning to be treated for smoke inhalation, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. Cindy Wilkinson, of 11706 Rocky Meadow Road in Clear Spring, was taken to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown, according to a fire marshal's office news release. Wilkinson was not listed as a patient shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Authorities said the fire started at 5:46 a.m. Thursday, when a stereo speaker on a living room shelf in the two-story home caught fire.

A woman and her 2-year-old son who were found dead Monday night after the mobile home where they lived became engulfed in smoke and flames died from smoke inhalation, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Jessica Cave, 24, and her son, Dominic Joseph Estevez, were found in the master bedroom next to the bed on the floor, said Jesse Jones, chief of staff of the sheriff's office. Cave was found in a hovered position over her child as if she were trying to protect him, Jones said.

One person suffered smoke inhalation and four others were displaced when a fire started in the basement of a home early Thursday at 229 E. Franklin St. in Hagerstown, a city spokeswoman said. Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said the fire, which was reported around midnight, started in a breaker box. She said damage was limited to the basement, and firefighters cleared the scene by 1:30 a.m. The Red Cross was called to help the people who were displaced. Wolfe said one resident was transported by Community Rescue Service to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown to be treated for smoke inhalation.

o Obituaries of Mary Gross and Nicole Gross HANCOCK -- A medical examiner has determined that the two girls who perished in a Monday night fire at their Hancock home died from smoke inhalation with burns, the Maryland State Fire Marshal said Thursday morning in a news release. A team of deputy state fire marshals, investigators with the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the cause of the fire, Deputy State Fire Marshal Joseph Zurolo said in a news release.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation after responding to a blaze that caused significant damage to a downtown building early Monday, fire officials said. The injured firefighter, Lt. Donna Harmison, was treated at City Hospital in Martinsburg and released, Capt. G. Edgar "Eddie" Gochenour said. Reported at 2:57 a.m., the fire at 200 W. Burke St. remains under investigation and the cause has not been determined, said Lt. Greg Hoover, the Martinsburg Fire Department's chief fire investigator.

HANCOCK - A 10-year-old boy escaped a house fire Saturday afternoon by climbing onto the front porch roof of his grandmother's house, said Hancock Fire Company Chief Ernie Truax. At first afraid to jump down, the boy, who was wearing only his underwear, finally jumped into the arms of Hancock-area resident Tom Golden, said another Hancock-area resident, Robert McCusker. McCusker said he covered the boy with one of his coats until the Hancock Rescue Squad arrived. Clarence Meyers Jr. was treated for smoke inhalation and released from War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

Frozen puppy?s owner charged Sisters died of smoke inhalation, burns Man sues estate of neighbor who died after fight Gooden, Berkeley County assessor, dies Girl helped save stepfather

BRUNSWICK, Md. (AP) -- The state fire marshal's office said three people were injured in a two-alarm fire that started in the basement of a Brunswick home. Fire investigators say five people woke up because of smoke alarms Tuesday morning. The fire's cause hasn't been determined. Sixty-five-year-old Florence Beachley, her granddaughter, 11-year-old Ashley Beachley and 12-year-old James Travis were injured. Florence Beachley was treated at Washington D.C. Hospital's burn unit for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

MERCERSBURG, Pa - A Mercersburg man who leapt from a burning South Main Street building Friday was upgraded to good condition Sunday morning at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. William Hamilton, whose age was not released, of 5 Main St. in Mercersburg, was hospitalized after he jumped from the second story of the Carriage House Hotel during a fire that began just after 6 a.m. Friday. Hours after the incident, a hospital spokeswoman said Hamilton was in serious condition.

Smoke was rolling out of an oven in a Hagerstown West End apartment Sunday morning after someone baking cookies put the oven on clean mode, Hagerstown Fire Capt. Adam Hopkins said. Hagerstown firefighters responded Sunday morning to a third-floor apartment at 607 W. Washington St. for a reported kitchen fire, emergency service officials said. On clean mode, the oven door automatically locked and the oven temperature reached higher temperatures than normal for baking, Hopkins said.

A Monday morning fire that killed a 42-year-old man in the mobile home where he resided near Sharpsburg was caused when a wood floor under a wood stove caught fire, a spokesman for the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said Wednesday night. The man who was killed was identified as John Thomas King, the State Fire Marshal's Office said in a news release. King died of smoke inhalation and thermal burn injuries, the release said. The wood stove was inside a wood addition to the mobile home, which was at 1807 Back Road, said Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office spokesman Bruce Bouch.

One person suffered smoke inhalation and four others were displaced when a fire started in the basement of a home early Thursday at 229 E. Franklin St. in Hagerstown, a city spokeswoman said. Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said the fire, which was reported around midnight, started in a breaker box. She said damage was limited to the basement, and firefighters cleared the scene by 1:30 a.m. The Red Cross was called to help the people who were displaced. Wolfe said one resident was transported by Community Rescue Service to Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown to be treated for smoke inhalation.

If you had a choice to “stand your ground” or “lie quietly dead” while someone was stealing your life's savings or trying to do harm to your loved ones, which option would you choose? No really, if someone broke into your house under the influence of some crazed drug trance and threatened to harm your family, what exactly would you do? Although the George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin incident has provoked a further debate on this issue, I'm not sure that the Florida law should be even applied in that case.

Hagerstown fire officials planned to spend most of Thursday investigating the cause of a fatal house fire on Summit Avenue that claimed the life of a city woman and critically injured three others, including a 3-year-old girl, Fire Chief W. Kyd Dieterich said. Dieterich said Thursday morning that he didn't have an update on the names or the medical conditions of the girl and two men who were injured in the fire at 334 Summit Ave. “I've had better days,” Dieterich said.

A woman and her 2-year-old son who were found dead Monday night after the mobile home where they lived became engulfed in smoke and flames died from smoke inhalation, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Jessica Cave, 24, and her son, Dominic Joseph Estevez, were found in the master bedroom next to the bed on the floor, said Jesse Jones, chief of staff of the sheriff's office. Cave was found in a hovered position over her child as if she were trying to protect him, Jones said.

The number of fatal fires in Maryland increased in 2011, but fewer people died in those blazes than in 2010, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. There were 56 fatal fires in 2011, compared with 50 in 2010, Maryland State Fire Marshal William E. Barnard said in a news release. Sixty-seven people died in fires in 2011, compared with 71 in 2010, according to the release. There was one fatal fire in Washington County. Delbert G. Summerville, 88, of 12809 The Terrace in Hagerstown, died Feb. 23, 2011, one day after being trapped in the basement of his burning home.

Going from zero to 60 mph is a selling point for some vehicles, but having to do that at unexpected moments any time day or night can be bad for the health of fire and rescue workers. "What is known as a fight or flight mechanism exists in everybody," said Matthew Tobia, chairman of the Safety, Health and Survival Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. "When you are thrown into an emergency situation, your body prepares you to fight or run like hell," Tobia said.

Hagerstown fire officials said working smoke detectors are why a 7-year-old boy wasn't injured more seriously Thursday morning when a fire started in a bedroom of his West End apartment. “I think smoke detectors did their job and prevented a tragedy,” Hagerstown Fire Chief W. Kyd Dieterich said. Dieterich said three people were home when the fire started shortly after 6 a.m. at 838 W. Washington St. He said the family was able to get out of the building without suffering serious injury.

A 4-year-old boy who died in a Chambersburg fire Monday night was the victim of accidental thermal injuries, according to Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner. Conner told The Herald-Mail on Wednesday that thermal injuries are more than burns, but include burns. The autopsy of Julius M. Coachman was conducted at Forensic Pathology Associates in Allentown, Pa. "Thermal injuries can happen in your airways, in your lungs, external. The biggest thing at a fire (is) someone either dies from thermal injuries or from smoke inhalation.