Hazmat response at Country Inn and Suites clears after substance removed; hotel briefly evacuated
A hazardous materials response at the Country Inn and Suites on Spectrum Drive prompted a hotel evacuation and several hours of on-scene investigation before crews removed a substance and allowed occupants to return. The call was dispatched at 12:50 pm to the 5500 block of Spectrum Drive, where Frederick County units including PE311, E231, E501, R3, HM50 and multiple EMS and command resources responded on radio channel 9I.
Frederick ECC advised responding units that the call stemmed from an ongoing incident involving a mental subject and that the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office was on site, FredScanner later reported at 12:52 pm. PE311 arrived on scene at 12:54 pm and reported a two-story hotel with nothing evident on initial arrival. At 12:58 pm, PE311 relayed that FCSO personnel noticed paraphernalia in the bathtub of the room where the occupant was located and detained.
Command was established by BC901 as crews investigated the substance in the affected room. R3 reported at 1:01 pm that R3 and PE311 crews were investigating, and at 1:06 pm R3 confirmed the first and second floors of the hotel were evacuated. At 1:35 pm HM50 made entry with two personnel to obtain the substance. HM50 reported normal meter readings in the room at 1:39 pm and later reported at 1:53 pm that the substance had been removed and no hazards were indicated. Occupants were allowed to reoccupy the structure after the removal, and HM50, A239, ALS31 and PE311 remained held in service.
The hazmat response was the day’s most involved single incident by resource deployment, but crews across Frederick County managed a series of other calls that filled afternoon and evening dispatches. Shortly before the hazmat call, units investigated a fuel spill at South East Street and East All Saints Street; PE23, HM33, HMSU33 and A37 were listed as responding at 12:44 pm. Fire crews also continued to handle commercial and residential alarm activations through the day, including responses at Spectrum Drive and Fort Detrick.
In the late afternoon a kitchen appliance fire in Jefferson drew a large response. The call for an appliance fire contained at 5:30 pm on the 4500 block of Timbery Court was upgraded to a box alarm and reported at 5:36 pm as a house fire on the same block; units listed on the upgraded assignment included E281, E121, E31, R20 and multiple chief and rescue resources on radio 9C. Verified updates indicated E201 initially reported smoke showing from the alpha side and later reported fires knocked and crews checking for extension.
Elsewhere, firefighters and public safety crews answered reports ranging from a gas odor inside a residence on the 3100 block of Cedar Grove Terrace in Urbana—TT23 investigated and later reported negative meter readings and units in service—to wires down at Cap Stine Road and Howard Stup Road where E141 reported a tree branch across power lines and requested Fire-Police for traffic control. Vehicle accidents, a brush fire in New Market and a commercial alarm at the East of Market apartments that was traced to burned food rounded out a busy day of routine and elevated responses across Frederick County.
