JOPPA, Md. — A camper fire on Tuesday left a Joppa man with burns to over 60 percent of his body.
It happened on the property of B&T Services at 415 Pulaski Highway.
Robert Kellog, 38, is an employee there who had been staying in a 30-foot trailer on the property.
He and his dog barely escaped as flames quickly consumed the camper.
“It’s just a case where if this occurred, first of all, we wouldn’t have been thinking of a camper/trailer located on this type of property. We probably wouldn’t have thought that someone was still located inside that,” said Sr. Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire, “So we’re very fortunate that the first caller was just a passerby here on Route 40, and we’re very fortunate that he was able to get out.”
8:23pm 1 alarm dispatched to a reported fire in the 400 blk Pulaski Hwy #Joppa
— Joppa-Magnolia VFC (@jmvfc8) October 19, 2022
8:28 #jmvfc8 units found a camper on fire that was spreading to a building.
8:41 Fire under control
1 patient transported to @HopkinsBayview critical cond & 1 injured dog@MarylandOSFM investigating pic.twitter.com/fjKJ0PwuJ6
Kellog remains in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center, while the dog is being treated at Bel Air Animal Emergency Hospital.
Surveillance video hinted at a possible cause of the fire.
With temperatures dropping Tuesday night, it appears Kellog tried heating the trailer with too big a propane tank.
“As of right now, preliminarily, our investigators believe that he tied a very large propane tank into his home’s propane system,” said Alkire.
Investigators say gas grills normally utilize 10-pound propane tanks, compared to the 420 pound one Kellogg tried hooking it up to, which ended up producing far more pressure than his heater could handle.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze before it spread to other neighboring buildings.
