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Several Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company members are credited with helping rescue 10 civilians from a suspicious and smoky apartment fire in Company 32’s first due on Thursday afternoon, January 3rd. Shortly before 5 p.m., PVFC Engine 321, Squad 322, and Tower 323 were alerted with other units for a reported apartment fire at 6910 Marsue Drive, in the Millbrook Park Apartments complex, a 2-23 box known as “Little Russia.” A number of fire units were already in the area, as just a few minutes earlier crews were called to two other apartment buildings in the complex for fires, which turned to be small and suspicious in nature. Baltimore County Fire Dept. Engine 2 quickly reported smoke showing, and responding crews found many residents trying to escape via balconies. Engine 321 FADO Bart Schanberger and firefighters David Kushner and Donald Rubin stretched an 1 ¾” hoseline to assist E2 with attacking the fire in a basement storage room, while firefighter Lou Schaller began effecting rescues in the front of the building via ground ladders. Firefighters from BCoFD Truck 18 and Engine 19 made several additional rescues. Fire extended from the basement up to the second floor, with heavy smoke throughout the 3-story building. FADO Chad Hipsley positioned Tower 323 at the side of the building and raised the bucket to the roof, while Lt. Justin Schumer and firefighters Josh Schumer and Josh Friedman initiated search and rescue. The Tower crew rescued multiple civilians from rear balconies, and working with career firefighters from Engine 3 rescued a woman from her third floor apartment while battling heavy smoke and intense heat conditions. Squad 322 assisted with scene lighting, salvage, and overhaul. Baltimore City Fire Department Engine 29 (under the command of Captain Larry Goldberg, also a PVFC lieutenant) and Truck 27 also responded, as they were nearby on the city/county line on a smoke investigation related to the fire. Evacuated residents were sheltered in a nearby community building, with the Baltimore County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management t assisting with relocation of about a dozen people. Baltimore County fire investigators determined that that the series of fires was intentionally set, and the property owner is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. These incidents came at the end of a busy day for Company 32, as PVFC firefighters also had two working rescues during the afternoon – one in a 3-1 box at Windsor Mill Road and Gartside Avenue, and a second on the outer loop of Interstate 695 between exits 21 & 20.