Home»BALTIMORE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT»INCIDENTS»2018 Fires and Incidents»2-Alarms 4408 Bowleys La. 10-17-18

On Wednesday, October 17, 2018 fire broke out in a first floor apartment in the Mannasota Manor Apartments located at 4408 Bowleys Lane, right across the street from Engine 27/Truck 26’s quarters in the Belair-Edison/Parkdale area of northeast Baltimore. Fire Box 27-1 was dispatched at 1455 hours and units responded to what they thought would be a routine fire. It ended up being anything but routine! Engine 27 and Truck 26 arrived and reported smoke showing from the 3-story garden apartment building. A company in the rear found an injured person on the ground that had jumped from a third floor window.
Arriving firefighters entered the building to locate the fire and any trapped persons. They were reporting smoke conditions and searching for the fire. After several minutes Command requested a working fire assignment followed by a second alarm. Within 20 minutes a horrific explosion occurred creating a massive fireball blowing out of the front of the building as well as blowing out all the windows on all three floors in the front and back. The blast knocked two firefighters down the stairs into the basement. One of them was a female firefighter who suffered a broken leg and back injuries. She was transported to Shock Trauma in serious condition. All the other firefighters in the building evacuated or were rescued. In all seven firefighters were injured and six were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Burn Unit. All of them suffered first and second degree burns to their hands and faces. All but one was treated and released by that evening. He was kept for further treatment and observation and was released on Friday. Three residents were also injured. The 58 year-old resident that jumped was taken to the hospital where she remained in critical condition. The other two also had burns and minor injuries. This was the highest number of firefighters injured in an incident since the Clipper Mill fire in 1995.
After the explosion and MayDay call Command requested a special call for HazMat and Special Operations companies to help contain the resulting fire and deal with multiple injured firefighters and civilians. No one was allowed back into the building and exterior operations were started to contain the fire inside. BGE was called to shut off the gas to the apartment complex. They began digging to locate the gas line. A fire was also burning on the outside in front of the building and firefighters were keeping the façade from igniting. For the rest of the evening while BGE was working in front of the building the fire was burning outside as well as inside and units were keeping it in check with ladder pipes and handlines. It wasn’t until around 1AM that BGE workers were finally able to locate and shut off the gas supply that was feeding the fire.
When the fire was extinguished and placed under control firefighters were then allowed to reenter the building and continue searching for possible victims and evaluate the condition and integrity of the building.
27 people were displaced from the fire. The Red Cross along with the Baltimore Housing Department were working together to help relocate the displaced residents. The following day residents were allowed back into their apartments to gather what belongings they could salvage. The building was condemned by the City Building Inspector. Fire Investigation along with BGE inspectors remained on the scene to determine the cause of the fire and explosion