Home»BALTIMORE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT»INCIDENTS»2016 Fires and Incidents»2-Alarms 4708-10 Curtis Ave. 11-4-16

On November 4, 2016 Fire Communications dispatched Tactical Box 57-40 around 2:00PM for a reported building fire in the 4700 block of Curtis Avenue in lower Curtis Bay. Engine 57 was first on the scene and had a 2-story converted church type building with heavy fire blowing out of the second floor front and side windows. The officer requested the rest of the Fire Box with a working fire assignment. Companies began an aggressive interior attack from the front and rear. They made their way in and knocked down the heavy fire but not before it had gotten into the common cockloft and spread into the adjacent connected building and then made its way into the roof of a third building.
Battalion Chief 6 arrived and assumed Command and requested Rescue 1 along with mutual aid units from Anne Arundel County Brooklyn Station 31. At 1441 hours Command requested a second alarm when companies had a hard time getting at the hidden fire above them and needed additional manpower to relieve them. He also requested Water Tower 1 to the scene. About an hour later fire was still in the roof area and had gotten into a cupola with a large cross atop of it in the front side of the building. As units were working it with handlines from an aerial ladder it collapsed along with the roof into the second floor.
It took about two hours to bring the fire under control. The building houses “The Safe House of Hope”, a non profit volunteer organization that welcomes people from all backgrounds and spiritual traditions. They provide education, training and support to help victims of sex trafficking become an active part of the community. Preliminary reports stated that the fire started when one woman was holding another woman at knifepoint inside the home. She became aggressive and started kicking out windows and then began setting the rooms on fire. Everybody escaped before the arrival of the Fire Department.