Maryland State Police: ALLEGANY COUNTY, MD (November 25, 2025) – A joint investigation between the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Combined County Criminal Investigations Unit (C3I) continues after a house fire claimed the life of a Frostburg woman on Tuesday afternoon. 

Just before 3:00 p.m., Frostburg Fire Department and surrounding departments responded to 220 Center Street after a 911 caller reported a house fire with possible entrapment. Firefighters arrived within minutes and found smoke and flames coming from a first-floor bedroom window of a single-family home that had been converted into two apartments. 

The two-alarm blaze brought dozens of firefighters to the scene and took around 15 minutes to bring under control. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered the body of an adult victim inside.

The victim has been preliminarily identified as a 50-year-old female occupant of the home. Her body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, where she will be positively identified, and the cause of death will be determined.

While investigators were able to conclude that the fire originated within the victim’s bedroom, the cause remains under investigation. Smoke alarms were present and had activated during the fire; however, investigators confirmed that the victim had preexisting medical conditions and was unable to walk. An adult male occupant who was not home at the time of the fire has been displaced, and the apartment above the involved unit was unoccupied. 

Deputy State Fire Marshals were assisted at the scene by the Maryland State Police Crime Scene Unit and K9 “Blondie,” which is standard operating procedure whenever a fatal fire occurs. 

“Our hearts break for each of the families affected by this tragic fire,” said Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray. “It is especially heartbreaking for a loss like this to occur just days before the holidays—a time when families should be gathering in celebration, not facing unimaginable grief. Please check your smoke alarms, have an escape plan, and practice it. And if a fire should break out—get out, stay out.”

A joint investigation between the police agency having jurisdiction and the Office of the State Fire Marshal is standard operating procedure whenever a fatal fire occurs.