In the early hours of Saturday morning, Bay District Volunteer Fire Department’s Tower 9 responded as part of a large mutual aid assignment to a fully involved house fire on the 600 block of Delight Court in St. Leonard. The fire, which broke out shortly before 6:00 a.m., forced crews into an immediate defensive strategy due to the intensity of the blaze.

First-arriving firefighters from St. Leonard Volunteer Fire & Rescue (Company 7) encountered flames consuming all sides of a two-story single-family home. With the structure already deemed unsafe for interior operations, incident command quickly transitioned the response to an exterior defensive attack to protect surrounding areas and control the fire’s spread.

Tower 9 was initially positioned in front of the command post to join the manpower pool. Once assigned to the scene, the crew assisted with key fire attack operations, working alongside other responding units to suppress the flames. Due to the rural location and lack of hydrants, water supply posed a significant challenge. A large-scale tanker shuttle was coordinated from the Jefferson Patterson Park fill site. Over 50,000 gallons of water were delivered through multiple engines and towers.

At one point during the operation, half of Tower 9’s crew was directed to the nearby pier, where they boarded Solomons VFD Boat 3 to assist with water-side operations. Once their support was complete on the boat, the crew returned to the scene to continue helping Company 6 with extinguishing hot spots.

Despite the extensive fire damage, the homeowners and their dog were able to escape safely through the basement after the front exit became inaccessible due to fire conditions.

Tower 9 worked in coordination with multiple departments, including St. Leonard VFD, Prince Frederick VFD’s Tower 2, Solomons VFD, and other mutual aid partners, highlighting the strong regional cooperation and readiness of local volunteer fire departments.

Bay District VFD commends the professionalism and teamwork of all personnel involved in this challenging response.

Fire Safety Reminder: Ensure that every level of your home has working smoke alarms, and review your home escape plan with all members of your household. Seconds count in a fire emergency.

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*** ALL Photos Used Courtesy of St. Leonard VFD Website ***