Maryland Fire Destroys Large Apartment Building

Fire officials in Montgomery County, Maryland say a fire has destroyed a Silver Spring apartment building and displaced 12 families.

More than 80 firefighters from Montgomery and Prince George’s County responded around 10:30 a.m. Saturday to the White Oak Gardens building on Lockwood Drive.

Montgomery fire and rescue spokesman Capt. Oscar Garcia says a woman who jumped to safety from a third-floor balcony was later hospitalized. A firefighter was also taken to a hospital for minor injuries.

At least 14 people were in the building when the fire broke out. Garcia says the Red Cross would help those families left homeless.

Garcia says the blaze may have started in a ground-floor apartment
kitchen. Officials are investigating what caused it.