House fire near Johnsville ruled accidental, fire official says

Feb. 15--A fire that destroyed a house about a mile west of Johnsville last week was ruled accidental, even as the cause of the blaze remained under investigation, according to fire officials.

After a careful examination of the remains of the house in the 11000 block of Renner Road, investigators ultimately found nothing suspicious about the fire, according to Battalion Chief Kenny Poole, the county fire marshal. The fire, which began at about 5:35 p.m. Feb. 7, was determined to have originated in the garage before spreading into the rest of the 2,704-square-foot house. The house was considered a complete loss after crews extinguished the flames, but none of the four people home at the time were injured.

While the investigation yielded enough information to rule the fire an accident, insurance investigators were continuing to attempt to determine the exact cause as of Friday, according to Poole in an email response to The News-Post's questions.

A damage estimate for the two-story house and its contents was placed at approximately $400,000, according to Poole.

Follow Jeremy Arias on Twitter: @Jarias_Prime.

___

(c)2019 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.)

Visit The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) at www.fredericknewspost.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.