Friday, Dec 11--Mobile Home Fire Sends One To Hospital

OCEAN CITY - A fire at an uptown mobile home park in Ocean City early last Friday morning sent one resident to a burn center in Baltimore, completely destroyed on residence and damaged two others.

Shortly before 3 a.m. last Friday, Ocean City Communications received a call for a reported structure fire in the area of 136^th Street and Coastal Highway. Ocean City Fire and Police units arrived on the scene a short time later to find a mobile home on Gorman Ave. completely engulfed in flames with exposure to other mobile homes in Sundowner Park. Additional units from the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company also responded to assist.

Fire crews had the blaze, characterized in some reports as more of an explosion than a fire, under control by 4 a.m., or a little over an hour after it was first reported, although firefighters remained on the scene until 5:45 a.m. The primary unit at 113 Gorman Ave. was completely destroyed by the fire, while damage also occurred at two neighboring homes.

One individual, believed to be the occupant of the mobile home destroyed in the blaze, was transported to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore by Maryland State Police helicopter. Her identity and condition has not been made public. For a while during the incident, there was some discussion about where to land the MSP helicopter with either Northside Park or the Jolly Roger Amusement Park as possible destinations, but the latter was ultimately chosen.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and is currently being investigated by the Ocean City Fire Marshal's Office.