$3.5M fire at college started in smoker's receptacle


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CHESTERTOWN, Md. (AP) — The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office says a fire that destroyed a building at an Eastern Shore college started in a plastic smoker's receptacle outside the building.

Saturday's fire caused $3.5 million in damage at Washington College in Chestertown. The Fire Marshal's Office says surveillance video shows that the blaze began in the receptacle spread to mulch and vegetation before reaching the building, which was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

Some 80 firefighters battled the blaze for 2 ½ hours.

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