The yellow sweatpants, red sweatshirt and Ravens football jacket he wore yesterday afternoon were what he was wearing when he escaped his burning home about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.
And it is all he has left.
Mr. O'Connor's house was one of three destroyed in a five-alarm blaze on the 3300 block of Shore Drive in the Oyster Harbor community on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula.
The fire, which caused $2 million in damages, remains under...
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Tide isn't relevant - 2008-12-11 17:41:39
Tide in this area is very small - generally a foot or so. Wind blowing up or down the Bay for a couple of days can move several feet of water, making a huge difference in water levels. Regardless, the total range is readily predictable and should be planned for.
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Dave Skolnick - Eastport, MD - Karma: Neutral
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RANDY HOPKINS - arnold, M - 2008-12-11 14:52:56
oyster harbour needs to have a community meeting with Annapolis City FD & AACO FD and ask their questions. yes and have a reporter there to from the The Capital
& fox news & the truth will be told
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Alfred - 2008-12-11 13:39:12
Are you serious ? you want us to watch a movie so we can comment on another fire dept ? You gotta be jokking... This has gotten way out of hand and you are fueling it. The citizens will never understand our side without going thru our experience and to walk in our shoes. But sir watching a movie isnt the answer... maybe the public or oyster harbour needs to have a community meeting with Annapolis City FD & AACO FD and ask their questions.
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RANDY HOPKINS - arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Oyster Harbor Fire - 2008-12-10 17:29:16
Oyster Harbor Fire i think every body that made comments should watch the movie call [ LADDER 49} THEN WE CAN ALL MAKE comments ABOUT AACO. & ANNAPOLIS FIRE DEPT. GOD BLESS
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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FACTS - 2008-12-10 16:03:50
aaco.old court house in annapolis in the winter a call came in there. water was running off the2 floor and turning to ice as fast as it came out.NO FIRE there/and smoke detector save lifes/ sprinkler save building National Fire Protection Association
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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D. F - Baltimore, MD - 2008-12-10 15:43:18
your right & i had two house call where the residential fire sprinklers went off on the second floor& run to the basement. cause of a the flowing fire hyd. in the spring.and one on the 3 floor bust cause it was not heated the home owner was at work and came home went the alarm went off and open the door water was running out the door in to the steet went i got there ?
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Alfred - 2008-12-10 15:14:36
First, I have the same residential fire sprinklers that just about every sprinklered non-commercial building under 5 stories has. The same as all the jurisdictions that have required sprinklers for years where they have NEVER lost a life in a fire in one. And I credit them with saving my belongings. Last year we had a second floor apartment catch fire when its christmas tree went up. There was nobody home. Those of you who have seen how fast fires progress know that the fire may well have consumed the whole apartment, or more. Instead, the sprinklers put it out, the alarms went off, everyone got out safe, and a few days later, all was repaired. And besides a few christmas presents, all belongings were saved.
You are about the first firefighter I have met that questions the FACTS that sprinklers saved lives. Are they solution to what happened in this case? NO!!! Unless those houses were built within the last 10 years or so when the ordinances have been proposed. But for more than 20 years, the fire department has been warning citizens that there is no water supply, and no manpower in most of the county, yet we still don't stand up and fight the council for better protection.
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D. F - Baltimore, MD - Karma: Neutral
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KNOW'S IT ALLLLL !!!!!!! - 2008-12-10 14:19:40
annapolis had cow & horse a on west st.and at the fire co. to that how they pull the fire engine.you let the big money people run your goverment and the people from va, washington.penn.now look at the nice little town.run the watermen out of the city dock&the money people put all the sailboat there?i was born & raise there and that is just why i live here with the cow& horse.it take you at lease a 1/2 hour 1hour in a car to get from west annapolis to eastport i use to walk it. it took 20min to my aunt house in lower eastport.and now your try to push the black famly out of clay street.easport.west annapolis and down town where they famly live for gen.so you can build more fire trap.you put all the old people in six store high rises so they can.t get out if there a fire? think about it read your history of annapolis and see what you done.
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - 2008-12-10 13:19:35
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KNOW'S IT ALLLLL !!!!!!! - 2008-12-10 13:09:53
Well Alfred let me give you the 411
on how the fire dept works in GREENSBORO MARYLAND, I have family there and I go see them maybe twice a year the fire dept in your area takes AT THE LEAST a good 15 min or more out there in the sticks, cow pastures, ext.. the closes fire dept there is,is a good 10-15 away as it is !!! so speaking about time is not an issue you should be worried about.
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AMY BROWN - ANNAPOLIS, MD - Karma: Neutral
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D. F - Baltimore, MD - 2008-12-10 11:37:28
so tell me what kind do you have in your house?and how much you payed for it ?
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Sprinklers - 2008-12-10 09:41:41
"$$$$$$$$$$$and more$$$$ after the water flood your house "
Not true, I wish opponents of sprinklers would stop spreading myths. The FACT is the average cost of loss from water to a protected home is $2166 while the average loss from fire and water from firefighter hoses in an unprotected home is $45,016. Yes smoke alarms save lives, sprinklers save not only lives but your property. And sprinklers do NOT go off by accident. The risk of this happening is 1 in 16 MILLION.
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D. F - Baltimore, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Smoke Alarm Facts - 2008-12-09 23:33:36
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), while 94 percent of U.S. homes have smoke alarms, more than one-third of these alarms do not work due to dead, missing or disconnected batteries.
Nearly half of the nation's fire deaths occur in the six percent of homes that do not have smoke alarms, according to the NFPA research.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the risk of dying in homes without smoke alarms is twice as high as it is in homes that have working smoke alarms.
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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sprinklers. - 2008-12-09 23:18:16
Only qualified contractors should install fire sprinklers. They will know how to install the system in compliance with national standards, which ensures that the spacing is correct and an adequate water supply is available. Also, fire sprinklers have different operating temperatures and flow patterns. You need someone knowledgeable who can select the correct sprinkler for each area of the home. $$$$$$$$$$$and more$$$$ after the water flood your house
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ALFRED PARKINSON 111 - GREENSBORO, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Fire - 2008-12-09 22:59:49
In the middle of an August night I awoke to an orange glow coming in my window. I rushed to the window and saw my next-door neighbor?s deck on fire. In the time it took me to run downstairs and around to the backyard the fire had already spread up the side of the house and windows were popping. Within a few minutes the siding on my house was melting away. It seemed like an eternity waiting for the firefighters to come, but it was really just a few minutes. In those few minutes my neighbor?s house was fully engulfed. The firefighters, who worked deliberately and professionally, saved my house and the house on the other side. Fortunately my neighbor got out safely, but he was left with next to nothing. Everything went about as well as it could have - the weather was pleasant and there was a hydrant nearby ? but his house was a total loss. From that experience I can very easily see how firefighters could have done everything they possibly could in Sunday?s fire and still have this unfortunate result. About 15 years ago ? as a photographer ? I watched a nearly new house on the Annapolis Neck burn as firefighters struggled to get water. The photo I remember was a firefighter carrying out an antique grandfather?s clock as fire spread across the roofline. With no water there was little the firefighters could do. There was a hue and cry about the lack of hydrants back then. Here we are all these years later and the same result. Don?t blame the firefighters. A few weeks ago commenters were complaining that people building single-family houses shouldn?t have to install fire-suppression systems. These are perfect examples why they should be required. Guess what?fires spread?very easily. If I ever build a house it sure is going to have sprinklers.
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Nick L. - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Move Forward - 2008-12-09 21:16:46
According to the report yesterday, the female resident was 'alerted by a smoke alarm and noticed smoke coming from the roof of her home' when she fled. Is that when the initial call to 911 was made? All fires start out as small ones. This fire escalated rapidly, then was intensified by the high winds. The fire department will never be able to control the wind or the tides, even if the station is right next door. Narrow streets are a problem in dozens of waterfront communities throughout the county. This was a combination of elements that made for a large monetary and personal loss for three families. I'm sorry for their losses. I'm also proud to say I was a career firefighter with the County for 21 years and know they did all they could, considering the conditions. Were they late getting out? NO. Was there a delay in the dispatch? Probably not. Were they 'dumbfounded' by what they encountered? Definately NOT! This wasn't their first rodeo folks! They are still the well-trained professionals you depend on every day.
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Mark Praschak - Chester, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Wake Up! - 2008-12-09 18:50:51
Blame the firemen silly rabbit? I live in a community on the South River of well over 50 homes with one (1) fire hydrant. Oyster Bay is not the exception just more expensive...
I watched two neighbor?s homes burn to the ground last year and Fox News was not there. Alas, they were not a million dollar homes. If we can build behemoth structures like what has gone up on West St. and Parole we surely can put in some water!
Start voting for people who walk the walk.
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Fed Up - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Fire Loss - 2008-12-09 16:40:54
My sympathy goes out to all who suffered a loss in this fire. However, two points to consider: 1. Under stress, such as watching you and your neighbors' house burn to the ground, time becomes distorted. A second seems like a minute and a minute seems like an hour. 2. All the $$ spent on those homes and no residential sprinklers, I assume, in a single one of them. A sad, sad situation for them when hindsight is a beautiful thing. Having known their fate, my guess is they would have passed on a high-end luxury option and put the money into a safety feature that may have reduced the impact of this fire. Let us all learn from this experience and call the County Council in support of bill 85-08. Perhaps a residential fire of this magnitude will be prevented with its passage.
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Jeffrey O. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Fire in Annapolis Neck - 2008-12-09 16:40:23
I was an Anne Arundel County firefighter for 26 years. I was also the captain in charge of the West Annapolis fire station. Over the years, we had quite a number of fires in the Annapolis Neck area, and the all shared one commonality; THE LACK OF WATER!!!!! The people living in the area assume that the fire department can magically move the water from the Bay to the fire. I served on an ad hoc FD team to educate residents about the lack of water and what they had to do to remedy the problem. Guess what, they didn't want to hear any of it. They would rather complain and point fingers rather than spend the money to ameliorate the problem. Why did they all not retro fit their homes with sprinkler systems. The government cannot solve all your problems!!!!!
Dr. Eric L. Smith
Palm City, FL
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Eric Smith - Palm City, FL - Karma: Neutral
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give me a break - 2008-12-09 15:33:28
I have sympathy towards the folks involved with the fire. However, lets not forget that the most importent thing is everyone is safe and nobody died. Josh Cohen proves he is not on the side of our Heros. He should be ashamed for assuming, by all his negative comments, that the brave and women who responded were to blame.
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Brian Nurmi - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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Fire at Annapolis Neck - 2008-12-09 14:56:00
1. Being near the water and being able to move that water, under pressure, to the scene of the fire are two entirely different things. The worse the conditions, the more formidable the problem. It is not uncommon for a waterfront building to burn to the ground.
2. Everyone seems to assume that someone?s house may catch fire, but it will never my house. Wrong assumption. Plan accordingly.
3. Nothing is more important to firefighting as a reliable water supply and that means hydrants. A tanker is not a substitute for a hydrant, nor is proximity to the bay. It is imprudent, at least, to buy or build your million-dollar dream home and neglect to include in the plans a means to extinguish a fire.
4. It is a fundamental rule of risk management that insurance will never cover all the cost of a loss ? not even the cost of the tangible losses. Replacing the intangibles (photos, mementos, keepsakes, etc.) usually are not contemplated in a fire insurance policy.
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William Heidecker - SEVERN, MD - Karma: Excellent
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