6 Family Members Unaccounted for After 4-Alarm Mansion Fire in Annapolis

[Recursion]

Awful

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Firefighters-Battle-4-Alarm-House-Fire-in-Annapolis-289007721.html

Six family members are unaccounted for after a 16,000-square-foot mansion was destroyed by a four-alarm fire Monday morning, Anne Arundel County fire officials confirmed.

"From the family, we know who's unaccounted for," Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Russ Davies said, though he declined to say who specifically could not be located. "If you look at the damage, you know, it would not be a stretch to think that if there were occupants that they did not survive the fire."

Earlier, Davies had said the home's occupants might have been out of town.

An alarm monitoring company and a neighbor who saw flames reported the fire in the 900 block of Childs Point Road about 3:30 a.m., according to Capt. Russ Davies, spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke and flames through the first floor, second floor and roof of the home.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Six family members still missing in Annapolis mansion fire

This certainly has an odd aura about it. The story made the national television news on Monday night, at least on CBS.

Six family members still missing in Annapolis mansion fire

Crime
By Dana Hedgpeth and Lynh Bui January 20 at 11:52 AM

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@postmetrogirl

[e-mail]
@ByLynhBui

Authorities said Tuesday they are continuing to look for six family members — two adults and four children — who are missing after a fire that destroyed a waterfront mansion in Anne Arundel County and that they are still trying to get inside the wreckage of the large-scale home. ... The family members were last seen inside the home on Childs Point Road in Annapolis, according to officials with the Anne Arundel Fire Department. No details have been released from officials as to who may have been in the home at the time of the fire, and officials are saying the family members are “unaccounted for.”
....

“We have no witness who can tell us where this fire started,” said Capt. Robert Howarth, a commander with the Anne Arundel County Fire and Explosives investigation unit. “We can’t determine the origin without an investigation.”
....

On Tuesday, a national response team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was joining the search and investigation at the scene because of the size of the home and scope of the damage, officials said.

The large size of the home was proving to be a challenge for firefighters, they said. Fire officials said they were working to bring in heavy equipment to move heavy beams so they could get inside the home. ... “This is five standard-sized houses put together,” Howarth said. He said he expects crews will be able to go inside the home Wednesday once the necessary equipment has arrived on the scene.

Pretty new construction. No smoke detectors? Sprinkler system? Alarm service that would call the fire department? The Washington Post has tagged it as a "crime" story.

[LiberalEsto]

2. They found two bodies today (1/21)

according to Newschannel 4.