An elderly man suffered serious burn injuries Thursday evening after a fire he was using to burn trash and brush got away from him near Hurlock, spreading across roughly 800 square feet of grass and into three parked vehicles before firefighters could stop it. The blaze broke out around 6 p.m. in the 4300 block of Osborne Road, and a passerby who spotted the flames called it in.
Crews with the Hurlock Volunteer Fire Company responded to the residence after that call, according to wmdt.com. The outlet reported that the man was burning trash and brush when the fire unintentionally spread beyond his control, burning him in the process. A crew of 20 firefighters had the flames under control in approximately 15 minutes, as reported by Daily Voice.
By the time crews knocked it down, the fire had spread from the outdoor burn pile to approximately 800 square feet of grass and three nearby vehicles, the same outlet noted. Total damage from the blaze is estimated at around $30,000, per that report. The man was flown by a Maryland State Police Aviation Command helicopter to a Baltimore-area burn center for treatment, according to WBOC.
Fire Marshal's Office Calls Blaze Accidental
The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office classified the fire as accidental, saying the flames unintentionally spread beyond the man's controlled burn to the surrounding grass and vehicles, the Daily Voice report states. Little else about the man has been made public; his name and age were not released, according to stardem.com.
Maryland's open-air burning regulations require that at least one responsible person remain at the location of a fire until the last spark is out, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The agency's rules also allow its director to declare a complete ban on open-air burning in woodland or areas of flammable material under prolonged or unusual conditions that make wildfires easier to start and spread.
Not an Isolated Risk in Maryland
Backyard burns that spiral out of control have proven fatal elsewhere in the state. A 93-year-old Cresaptown man, Charles W. Armstrong, died after a brush fire he was tending in Allegany County accidentally burned out of control, according to Patch. In that case, heavy smoke and flames impeded Armstrong's ability to escape, and he was also flown by Maryland State Police to a burn center, where he later died after suffering first-, second- and third-degree burns.
The circumstances of the Hurlock fire remain under review, and key details — including the man's current condition and the specific reason the fire spread — have not been released. For now, officials have confirmed only the scope of the damage: a scorched yard, three damaged vehicles, and a man badly hurt by a fire that started as routine yard work.
