Crime & Safety

UPDATE: $1 Million Damage in Two-Alarm Blaze at Carpentry Shop

Montgomery County fire officials say excavation equipment is knocking down the rubble of a Rockville strip mall that burned Monday.

Updated at 2:15 p.m.

Heavy equipment is on the scene of a two-alarm fire at a carpentry shop in Rockville Monday to pull down the building remains.

Montgomery County firefighters are on scene at a one-story commercial building fire in the 1000 block of Taft Street, MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer tweeted.

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According to his tweets, a second alarm was called at the building located in a strip mall. Firefighters saw fire showing through the roof of the Kevin Smith Building and Design Carpentry shop, says Piringer.

Some streets around Taft Street are closed, reports WUSA TV.

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More than 100 firefighters responded to the fire.

The fire is located directly behind Maryvale Elementary School, but does not appear to be a threat to the building, Montgomery County Public Schools spokesperson Dana Tofig told the TV station.

"We do have a day care in the building and we've moved the students to the opposite end of the building as a precaution," Tofig said.

Heavy equipment was brought in Monday afternoon to help firefighters extinguish burning debris and hotspots according to Piringer’s Twitter feed. Excavation equipment was onsite to demolish the unstable structure.

Damage estimates place the fire loss at a total of $1 million, he said, with $500,000 damage to the building and $500,000 in lost contents and collateral damage.


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