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Aberdeen apartment fire displaces 28 and kills three pets; state fire marshal rules out a cooking fire

Published October 29, 2026 at 8:30 AM EDTLast modified October 29, 2026 at 8:20 AM EDT2 min read

Investigators say the fire started in a lower-level kitchen on East Bel Air Avenue but was not a cooking fire; 28 people are displaced and the building sustained about $500,000 in damage.

Three-story garden apartment building at night with emergency lights and smoke from a ground-floor window, editorial illustration of an Aberdeen, Maryland apartment fire — Editorial illustration of a three-story apartment building at night. It is not a photograph of Magnolia Farms Apartments.

ABERDEEN, Md.

ABERDEEN, Md. — A fire that began in a ground-floor kitchen sent smoke through a three-story apartment building on East Bel Air Avenue late Tuesday, displacing 28 people and killing three pets, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

Firefighters were called to Magnolia Farms Apartments at about 11 p.m. Tuesday. Roughly 50 firefighters responded to the three-story building and contained the fire in about 10 minutes, the Aberdeen Fire Department said in a statement. No residents or firefighters were injured.

Two cats and a turtle died in the fire, WBAL-TV reported.

The Red Cross said it was assisting 12 families displaced from their apartments. The fire marshal's office put the number of people displaced at 28.

The cause remains under investigation. Investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen of a lower-level apartment, but Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said it was not a cooking fire.

"The state fire marshal was requested to investigate. Our investigators spent several hours on the scene," Alkire said. "We can confirm that it was not a cooking fire."

The rescues

Crews pulled a woman through the window of the burning apartment and rescued two other people from a second-floor balcony, firefighters told WBAL-TV.

Neighbors described waking to smoke moving upward through the building.

"I get up and sure enough, from the bottom floor you can see the smoke traveling all the way up," Trevaughn Ayala told the station. "You could see it was hitting the plastic sidewall and stuff like that."

Lonnie Farley, another neighbor, described flames coming from a side window. "I came out and there was nothing but flames coming out that side window, and it was just unreal," he said.

Damage

Damage is estimated at $500,000, a figure that covers the apartment where the fire started as well as smoke and soot damage throughout the building, CBS News Baltimore reported. Fire officials said the entire structure was affected even though the flames were confined quickly.

The fire marshal's office is continuing to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Fire Marshal's Office.

For property managers, the case illustrates a pattern that shows up in most residential fires that displace a whole building: the flames are controlled in minutes, but smoke moves through corridors, stairwells and units long enough to put every apartment out of service for weeks. Where a fire alarm, sprinkler system or standpipe is impaired after an event like this, many jurisdictions require a fire watch to remain in place until protection is restored.

USPA Nationwide Security provides fire watch coverage for multifamily properties in Maryland and across the Mid-Atlantic, staffed by guards trained to NFPA 601 patrol standards.

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About the reporter

Albina Bieci

Staff Writer

Staff writer for the USPA Nationwide Security newsroom. Receives newsroom tips, corrections and editorial inquiries.

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