Harford County Apartment Fires Dampened By Life-Saving Sprinkler Systems: Official

Crime & Safety

Harford County Apartment Fires Dampened By Life-Saving Sprinkler Systems: Official Officials credit sprinkler systems with halting the spread of 2 apartment fires that broke out Nov. 10 in Forest Hill and Abingdon.

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Firefighters battled two separate apartment complex fires Nov. 10 in Harford County and credited sprinkler systems for knocking down the fires before they arrived.

An apartment fire broke out in the 2000 block of Rock Spring Road in Forest Hill after an apartment fire was reported in the 500 block of Eastview Terrace in Abingdon. Several companies sent mutual aid, the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, the risk of dying in a home fire decreases by an estimated 80 percent when fire sprinklers are installed and working.

Before his retirement last year, former Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian S. Geraci said, "Residential fire sprinklers are proven to save lives, prevent injuries and protect property and valuables. The best home fire safety practice is combining a smoke alarm, an escape plan and a residential fire sprinkler."

Geraci was speaking about a fire that broke out in the summer of 2022 when an unattended candle sparked a kitchen fire in a Fallston home . However, an automatic fire sprinkler system kicked in and prevented the fire from spreading from the kitchen to the rest of the home. Damages were limited to $20,000 and a resident and an infant were able to get out of the home safely.

The Melanie Diaz Sprinklers Save Lives Act was signed into law by Maryland legislators in May 2024. It requires high-rise residential buildings to be equipped with smoke detectors and must post signage warning residents if the building is not equipped with an automatic sprinkler system.

Diaz, 25, died from smoke inhalation on Feb. 18, 2023, while rescuing her two dogs from a fire that broke out at the Arrive Silver Spring Apartments. While officials never identified a cause for the fire, they determined that the absence of a functioning smoke alarm system and lack of a sprinkler system contributed to the destruction caused by the fire.