Howard police have identified the Ellicott City man who was killed Monday evening in a fire that consumed his town house.
Randal Evan Dinsmore, 48, was pronounced dead shortly after firefighters pulled him from the kitchen of his burning house on Sonia Trail, police spokesman Jamie Myers said.
Dinsmore was the only person in the house, Myers said.
A neighbor reported the two-alarm fire in a 911 call at about 5:30 p.m., fire and rescue spokesman Bill Mould said.
Flames were visible in the second- and third-story windows, and smoke poured from the front of the house when firefighters arrived, Mould said.
Sixty firefightersfrom Baltimore and Howard counties controlled the blaze in about 20 minutes, battling high winds, Mould said.
The fire started in the basement and spread through the other floors, causing an estimated $400,000 in damages, Mould said. The houses on either side were not seriously damaged.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, Mould said.
