Home»BALTIMORE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT»INCIDENTS»2013 Fires and Incidents»2-Alarms 616 Oldham St. 12-10-13

On December 10, 2013 just after 2:00PM a fire broke out in a 2-story rowhouse at 616 Oldham Street, in Baltimore’s “Greektown” section. When firefighters arrived heavy fire involved the second floor, front and rear, and was extending to both side exposures in the rear. Battalion Chief Rick Lago, of the First Battalion, arrived and took command and made it a working fire followed by a second alarm within five minutes.
There was an initial report of persons trapped inside the structure, but shortly before the Fire Department arrived the residents had been led to safety by the Police.
For a short while firefighters were forced to exterior operations due to the heavy volume of fire. Once the bulk of it was knocked down they could then enter and perform their searches and extinguish the remaining fire. About 30 minutes into the fire special calls for extra Truck Companies was requested to enter the exposures on each side to pull ceilings and check for extension.
In all six houses were damaged by the fire and smoke and as many as a dozen people were chased from their homes. They were kept warm in ambulances that were on the scene. Paramedics checked out a few of them and found that no one was seriously injured.
85 firefighters with 26 pieces of apparatus finally brought the fire under control in about two hours. There were no serious injuries and Fire Investigation along with Police Arson was on the scene to determine the cause.