UPDATED: Toaster Oven Blamed For Townhouse Fire

Update, Feb. 17, 8:30 a.m.: A toaster oven left on the deck of the home is believed to be what started the fire on Wednesday night, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer, Capt. Oscar Garcia said.

"The male occupant used the toaster oven to cook earlier in the day," he said. The toaster oven reportedly had a timer function, which failed. The oven stayed on and continued to heat, fire and rescue said.

The two adult residents of the townhouse were not home at the time the fire started. They returned late from work to find firefighters had already extinguished the majority of the fire, the female resident told Patch.

The fire started from the back of the house and it spread quickly upwards. Firefighters detected smoldering in the neighboring attics but they were able to keep flames from spreading.

As the residents surveyed the house on Thursday morning, they said the front rooms were mostly untouched but much of the back rooms and top two floors are destroyed.

"We always hear the firetrucks coming by our neighborhood," said a woman who lives across the street from the house. "Then we realized these were really close."

Fire and Rescue crews will be going door-to-door throughout the neighborhood at 3:30 p.m. to talk to residents about fire prevention and check smoke detectors.

Original Post, Feb. 16, 11:15 p.m.: A three-story townhouse caught fire in North Potomac late Wednesday night.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews responded to the house located at 15802 Glacier Court, around 10:30 p.m., Assistant Chief Scott Graham said.

Heavy fire was showing out of the rear of the townhouse when crews arrived, Graham said. The fire stretched across the building and vertically up into the attic.

Graham said firefighters were able to extinguish the exterior fire quickly after arriving on the scene. But at 11 p.m., firefighters were still battling flames stretching into adjoining attics.

No injuries were reported.