Home»BALTIMORE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT»INCIDENTS»2018 Fires and Incidents»2 Alarms 3911-35 Roland Ave. 4-10-18

At around 1130 hours on April 10, 2018 a vacant dwelling fire was reported in the 3900 block of Roland Avenue located in the Hampden neighborhood of north Baltimore. When units arrived smoke was showing from the eaves of several houses in the block. Firefighters began an interior attack in several of the houses as the fire was burning in the common cockloft and roof area of the 3-story homes. As they began to pull the ceilings down in several of the houses heavy fire was present above them. When it finally broke through the roof in the center of the block command requested a working fire assignment followed by a second alarm about 10 minutes later. Battalion Chief 5 then ordered an evacuation to begin an exterior attack. The houses were 4 stories tall in the rear and access was limited. Firefighters had to hand drag lines as well as portable monitor pipes all the way up a dead end alley to get to the back yards of the involved houses.
At 1153 hours a special call for the new Tower 81 was requested and they were able to set it up in the front of the houses on the block. From there they were able to access and cover the whole roof as the fire broke through and traveled down the whole block. Within the next hour some several more special calls brought 3 more engines and one truck to the scene.
Heavy winds that day pushed the fire from one end to the other end of the block which eventually involved the roofs and third floors of 8 houses. All but one of the homes were occupied and all of the residents got out safely as the neighbors alerted others still inside at the time of the fire.
It took 72 firefighters about 3 ½ hours to control the fire and place it under control. Several of the roofs in the center of the block collapsed into the third floors making it difficult to get at the hidden flames.
A roofing contractor was working on one of the houses at the end of the block and may have accidentally started the blaze. The Red Cross showed up on the scene to assist the displaced residents. A building inspector was also on the scene and condemned most of the houses with structural damage as well as water damage. No one was reported injured.