Howard County Police identified the man who died in a Tuesday evening apartment fire in Columbia.

Firefighters from the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services responded to the 11500 block of Little Patuxent Parkway around 5:45 p.m. for a report of a smoke odor in the building.

David Richardson, 63, was in cardiac arrest when crews located a kitchen fire. Firefighters rescued Richardson and extinguished the flames in about ten minutes. Richardson was pronounced dead on the scene shortly after, according to a news release.

Investigators found the fire was likely caused by an electrical malfunction, said Samantha Stanton, a spokesperson for the Fire Department.

It’s the second fatal fire in Howard County in 2026, Stanton said. Sheila Brookshire, 70, died in January from injuries sustained in a fire in a Columbia townhouse. The county recorded one fatal fire in 2025 in Jessup, Stanton said.