As snow piled up and temperatures dropped, firefighters were battling something far hotter in Maryland — a middle-of-the-night townhouse fire that forced residents out into the cold and lit up a quiet neighborhood with flashing lights and heavy smoke.
Fire crews were dispatched to the 9800 block of Rainleaf Court in Columbia at approximately 2:05 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, after reports of a townhouse fire, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.
Firefighters worked for roughly 90 minutes to bring the blaze under control before extinguishing it, officials said. Crews remained on scene afterward to complete overhaul operations and make sure no additional hotspots were present…