Maryland father dies trying to save child in house fire possibly sparked by fireworks

A man died trying to save his child from a house fire in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, that may have been caused by fireworks, authorities say. The child had made it out safely.

The man’s home caught fire at about 9:40 p.m. Sunday. Firefighters were sent after a report of a house fire with a child believed to be trapped inside.

According the police dispatch call, the father was inside the burning home and on the phone with 911 and he was looking for his son. At a certain point, he stopped talking on the call.

The dispatcher on the call said he was “no longer responding” and there was “just an open line with a lot of noise.”

When firefighters arrived, there was a heavy fire that had spread throughout the family’s two-story home.

“When we came out, you could just see the flames through the trees,” Jacqui Grantland, a neighbor said. “We were worried because there’s so much forest out here that the forest would engulf. It was just like nothing you’d had seen before.”

The family evacuated the home but once outside, the father couldn’t find his 10-year-old child. He rushed back into the house to try to rescue his child.

“The child was later confirmed to have safely escaped the home,” the Office of the Maryland State Fair Marshal said in a statement.

“That just says something about the character of the father,” Grantland said.

When firefighters put out the fire, they found the father dead on the home’s second floor.

“Our hearts are with this family as they face an unimaginable loss,” said Acting State Fire Marshal Jason Mowbray.

Preliminary information from the fire marshal’s office revealed that the family had used ground-based sparklers earlier Sunday evening and they were thrown away in a trash can on a screened-in rear deck. It’s possible that the fireworks ignited other materials in the trash can.

The fire marshal’s office is investigating to confirm if the discarded fireworks retained enough heat to cause the fire inside the trash can.

“As we continue our investigation, we want everyone to remember that fireworks don’t stop posing a risk when the show is over. Taking a few extra minutes to soak and properly dispose of used fireworks and sparklers can help prevent a tragedy like this,” Mowbray said.