Blast inside Maryland storage shed injures one, damages homes

(Reuters) - An explosion inside a Maryland storage shed early Saturday left one person hospitalized and damaged nearly a dozen nearby homes, fire officials said. A 56-year-old man was entering the storage shed in the backyard of a home in Westminster, Maryland, about 40 miles north of Baltimore, when the explosion occurred, according to Maryland State Fire Marshall spokesman Bruce Bouch. The man, whose identity was not released, was hospitalized for his injuries, Bouch said. Eleven homes in the vicinity received various degrees of damage, including broken windows and ripped siding, he said. The cause of the blast was still under investigation but it is believed to be accidental, the Carroll County Fire Department said. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Seattle; editing by Matthew Lewis)