Fire damages Bethesda house

Friday, Jan. 4, 2008

Fire damages Bethesda house

by Stephanie Siegel | Staff Writer

E-mail this article \ Print this article

A fire at a house on Swansea Street in Bethesda was expected to cause significant damage, fire officials said Friday morning.

The fire broke out in the basement of the house in the 6100 block of Swansea Street, located off of Greentree Road, around 6:45 a.m., said Pete Piringer, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman.

It took firefighters about 20 to 30 minutes to get the fire under control, Piringer said.

A woman who was home at the time the fire started was wakened by a smoke detector. She left the house and called 9-1-1. No one was injured in the fire.

A water main break also occurred Friday morning near the house, but it did not cause problems for firefighters, Piringer said.

The cause of the fire and the damage estimate are still under investigation, Piringer said.