Douglass Road, Bellows Way Fires Under Investigation

The causes of two house fires that occurred exactly one month apart remain under investigation in .

The home of John and Linda Carlson at 20 Douglass Road . The house was completely destroyed.

A month earlier, on Jan. 9, the home of Glenn and Joanne Harris at 119 Bellows Way

Both homes are completely uninhabitable and will most likely be razed.

"We don't believe there is any relations between the two fires," said Rick Lesniak, director of fire services for Montgomery Township.

A source informed Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch that the fire started after the homeowner Linda Carlson, upon reentering the home from smoking a cigarette, emptied the ashtray into a trashcan inside the house.

Lesniak would neither confirm or deny the speculation.

"We are looking into all facts of the day," he said. "The informaiton gathered will be released then."

Lesniak said at the scene on Thursday that the home was not fitted with automatic fire sprinklers.

However, fire sprinklers are only required by the International Residential Code in all new single-family dwellings built after Jan. 1, 2011.

The Carlson's home was built in 1988, according to Montgomery County land records.  The Harris's home was built in 1987, according to county records.

Lesniak said Thursday that the home was fitted with smoke detectors.

On Friday, he said Linda Carlson was notified of a fire by a smoke detector.

"I believe she did indicate a smoke alarm activated after discovery of the fire," Lesniak said.

The home at 20 Douglass Road was partly demolished Friday by heavy equipment crews, in order to investigate the fire.

"(The home was partly demolished) last night. It was unsecure," Lesniak said. "We didn't want to have a dangerous situation. We wanted to have control over the walls coming down."

Of all the crews that responded last night, one was a R.I.T. (Rapid Intervention Team) or F.A.S.T. (Firefighter Assist and Search Team) from North Penn Volunteer Fire Co.

A F.A.S.T. is dedicated to the search and rescue of other firefighters in distress.

"That is common with any fire in Montgomery Township," said Lesniak. "They are there as a crew of firefighters called into action if a firefighter is injured or trapped in a building."

Requests to aid the Carlson family with donations of clothing, food, toys and the like have been flooding in at Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch.

The family did have a young son in first grade at Bridle Path Elementary.

A drive or collection has not been set up yet, but stay with Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch for updates.

One thing that is in the works is a bake sale to raise money for the Carlson family.

Resident Stacey Schwengels said she and resident Renee Johnson are in the process of organizing a hot cocoa/bake sale for the family on Feb. 19. Times to be announced.

She said she and her neighbors do not know the family, but their children go to school with the Carlson's child.