Dwelling Fire- Severn (Wedgewood Forest)
Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
Time: 6:17 p.m.
Location/Address: 8289 Portsmouth Drive, Severn, MD 21144
Type of Incident: Dwelling fire
Description of Structure/Property: Two-story duplex
Injuries or Deaths: A female occupant, believed to be in her 70s, was removed from the second floor by firefighters. When she was removed from the home, the patient was in cardiac arrest, and firefighters turned her care over to paramedics. Paramedics transported her to John Hopkins Bayview Hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.
Estimated Dollar Loss: $60,000
Smoke Alarm Status: Present and activated
Assisting Fire Departments: Baltimore/
Other Assisting agencies: Anne Arundel County Police, Baltimore Gas and Electric
Number of Alarms: One alarm with Working Fire Dispatch
Number of Responding Firefighters: 42
Time to Control: 15 minutes
Discovered By: Neighbors
Area of Origin: Living room
Preliminary Cause: Accidental
Additional Information: Firefighters responded to a 911 call from a neighbor reporting smoke coming from the home's windows. Firefighters arrived and found smoke coming from the windows of the two-story duplex. They entered and quickly located and extinguished a fire in the home's living room while simultaneously locating and removing the adult occupant from the second floor. Members of the Anne Arundel County Fire and Explosives Investigation Unit have determined that it was an accidental fire, with the cause undetermined.
Update, April 14th, 10:30 a.m.
The victim removed by firefighters from the Portsmouth Drive fire on Monday evening died on Wednesday as a result of her injuries. She is identified as Joann Marie Smith, 75, and was a resident of the address. She is the third fire-related death in Anne Arundel County in 2022 as a result of three fires.
- March 18th- Darlene Feeheley, 68, died in a fire in her home in the unit block of Greenwood Avenue in Glen Burnie. The home did have working smoke alarms.
- March 9th- Christopher Blaine Isaksen, 62, died in a fire at his home in the 7900 block of Quarterfield Road in Severn. The home did not have working smoke alarms.
There were two fire fatalities from one fire incident in 2021 and three fire fatalities in three fire incidents in 2020.