Walkersville Condo Fire

On July 23, the Glade Towne condominiums was struck by lightning causing a fire in the upper levels of the three-story building 500 in Chapel Ct. Smoke from the fire could be seen miles away as over 12 fire trucks from Frederick County rushed to the scene shortly before 10 pm.

By the time help arrived most of the residents were already outside, although firefighters did have to evacuate some people that were still in the building. It took almost 2 hours for them to put the fire out, and at that time lighting was the suspected cause of the fire but not confirmed.
Luckily no one was injured but the roof, attic, and middle floor were considerably destroyed. Many residents’ belongings were burnt severely as others were able to come back and retrieve their unharmed ashy possessions.

According to the Gazette; Ridge Cramer, president of Glade Towne's board of directors, estimated the building damage at around $1.2 million, and he expects it to take several months to repair the all of the damage to the middle units. All of the tenants were forced to relocate temporarily as the building is being repaired.

Some friends of mine from high school, Tera and Justin Baker were living in one of the condos affected by the fire and when they got displaced from their home they are staying a local Frederick waiting to find out when they will be able to come back to their home.

This fire was the first in the history of the Glade Towne condominiums which were built nearly 20 years ago. The buildings were constructed using concrete and brick with minimal lumber along with fire walls dividing each section. Knowing these condominiums were built to withstand fire and damage is a relief considering all of the Glade Towne condos could have easily burnt to the ground if built differently.