Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS) responded to a two-alarm apartment fire late Wednesday night at the Miramont Apartments in the 6000 block of California Circle, off East Jefferson Street in the Rockville/North Bethesda area.
More than 75 MCFRS personnel responded after the fire was reported at approximately 11:44 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire coming from a second-floor apartment in the four-story garden-style building. The fire spread into a third-floor apartment before crews extinguished it. Firefighters also assisted several residents from the building.
According to MCFRS, investigators determined the fire began in an unoccupied second-floor apartment and was caused by improperly discarded incense ashes in a potted plant. The building was not equipped with a sprinkler system.
Damage from the fire is estimated at approximately $2 million. Twelve residents from several apartments were displaced.
An adult male maintenance worker suffered smoke inhalation while alerting residents to the fire and was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
