House Fire Displaces Elkridge Family

A fire that broke out around midnight Saturday displaced an Elkridge family living on Paradise Avenue.

At approximately 12 a.m. on Feb. 18, a neighbor called 911 to report a fire on the 5700 block of Paradise Avenue in Elkridge, said Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services (HCDFRS).

The owners of the home, who evacuated before firefighters arrived, also called to report the fire when they got outside, said officials.

The fire was confined to the basement, said HCDFRS, and Howard and Baltimore county crews brought it under control within 30 minutes. Units cleared the scene at 4:30 a.m., according to officials.

There was "significant smoke damage" on the first floor, said HCDFRS.

A team was on scene Saturday morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. boarding up the house, which was posted as uninhabitable.

Currently, the family that lived there is staying elsewhere, said HCDFRS.

There were no injuries reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, said officials.

Editor's note: This article was corrected at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 19. A previous version stated that there was one person in the house.