BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Baltimore County Fire Department is investigating an overnight home explosion in Essex, Maryland.
According to County Fire officials, crews responded to reports of an explosion on the unit block of Crafton Road around 11:05 p.m. Saturday night. Travis Francis with the Baltimore County Fire Department spoke to a news reporter about the incident.
“Within minutes it had heavy fire coming from the rear of this home. And the home was destroyed,” he said.
Upon their arrival they found the home engulfed in flames and requested a 2nd-alarm alert to be sent out.
While on the scene, a male victim came to first responders with burn injuries and was taken to the hospital for further treatment.
“We cannot confirm if he was in the home or around the home when that took place. It is still under investigation,” stated Francis.
The homeowner said she along with her children were not home when this happened. One person said he smelled natural gas earlier Saturday night and called it into the gas company.
“[Baltimore Gas and Electric Company] came around and was probing all the areas all the houses and they didn’t find anything what they said,” said one neighbor.
“We have heard from quite a few neighbors who have reported that and that is being looked into by our investigators as well,” said Francis. “We believe the time of night 11 p.m. there wasn’t people out on the streets kids playing in the neighborhood. It was a nice day those are some fortunate facts. But it still very unfortunate what took place here in this community. They are not going to forget this.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire officials wanted to remind residents that if they smell gas to report it immediately.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.