Home»BALTIMORE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT»INCIDENTS»2015 Fires and Incidents»Building Collapse 1235 W. Lafayette Ave. 6-26-15

Shortly before noon on June 26, 2015 a row house under renovation in the Sandtown-Winchester area of west Baltimore collapsed trapping two construction workers. The incident happened at 1235 W. Lafayette Avenue. Two men were working inside the 3-story end of group dwelling on the upper floors when the interior floors and walls collapsed down to the first floor. Truck 10 received a report of the collapse from a citizen who came to the firehouse and responded to the scene just a few blocks away. They arrived on the scene and began to pull away the debris that was burying one worker on the first floor front room. A second man managed to free himself and was walking around in front of the building when firefighters arrived.
A Rescue Box was dispatched at 1140 hours and members of the SOC Team arrived to begin assessing the buildings condition and began bracing the outside walls to prevent any further collapse. The freed worker received treatment from Paramedics when they arrived. Firefighters were in the building and began to remove the debris covering the other worker by hand. He was conscious and communicating with his rescuers while he was being freed. After about an hour, while working in teams removing partial walls, studs and plaster from the victim, he was finally removed from the building. He was taken to a waiting ambulance, evaluated, treated and taken to a nearby hospital where he was admitted for non-life threatening injuries.
A building inspector was dispatched to the scene, where he would determine the safety and stability of the remaining structure. The exterior walls remained intact.