UPDATE 1/8/2026: On January 6th, 2026, at 4:37 p.m., over 40 firefighters responded to 319 Forest Edge Avenue in La Plata, for the reported structure fire.
Crews arrived on the scene to find a single story single family home with fire showing from the attached garage.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, completed searches and checked for extensions in under 25 minutes.
The owner/occupant is identified as Gordon Dobbins, with the estimated loss of structure and contents valued at over $85,000.00
Investigation found the family dog alerted an occupant of the home to the fire, and was found accidental result of an electrical malfunction in the garage. The fire was contained to the area of origin.
1/7/2026: On Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at approximately 4:35 p.m., firefighters from La Plata and surrounding departments responded to the 300 block of Forest Edge Avenue in La Plata, for the reported garage on fire.
911 callers reported the garage was on fire with pets still inside the home.
Crews quickly arrived on the scene within 5 minutes of dispatch to find fire showing from the one story single family home and deployed multiple handlines.
While extinguishing the fire within 10 minutes, additional crews performed primary and secondary searches of the residence and removed one dog. The fire was contained to the garage with no extensions into the home found.
SMECO and the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal responded to the scene to assist, with the cause of the fire remaining under investigation.
Both dogs and one cat were located and placed back into the care of the homeowners.
Firefighters operated on the scene for over 2 hours.
Photos courtesy of the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department.
