Wicomico resident Bryan Watson and his family lost just about everything in a fire last month that completely destroyed their home. The worst loss of all was that of five dogs who perished in the blaze.

Watson said he was the last person out of the home the afternoon of May 20. It was his daughter’s birthday and the family was going just down the street to celebrate with Watson’s mother at her home. “I had just come in and turned the air conditioner on for the dogs,” he said.

The electrical wiring running to that window air conditioner apparently caught on fire shortly after he left; and the fire spread quickly through the mobile home.

“We had been at my mom’s house for about 15 or 20 minutes when my niece, who lives down the street, called and said ‘your house is on fire.’” By the time Watson returned, the entire home was involved in fire.

“Pretty much everything we had was in that house,” he said. “However, o...