Wind-driven fire rips through West Baltimore neighborhood, demolishing 15 rowhomes
Baltimore City Fire crews battled a massive row home fire in West Baltimore Friday morning.
Around 4:26 a.m., BCFD said they were working to contain the fire, which engulfed 15 homes and displaced several residents in the 2200 block of N. Fulton Ave.
Officials say the block of buildings was a mixed occupancy of homes, businesses, businesses with apartments above, and a few were vacant. However, all of them have now been demolished.
"They're no-go buildings. We do not do interior firefighting in Code X buildings," Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said.
Buildings marked with Code X in Baltimore City mean they have severe structural or interior hazards and high risks of collapse.
According to Wallace, the fire was "wind driven."
"Crews were really challenged with the speed at which the fire was literally walking down the block, as well as embers being blown up to about two blocks away - so we really had to address a really large area," Wallace said.
By 7:16 a.m. the fire was under control, BCDF said.
According to BCFD, roughly seven people were displaced from the fire.
"It's been in our family for over 100 years," Abdullah Manteen, a longtime resident, said. "Now my family is totally in disarray."
He told WJZ's Caroline Foreback that by the time he arrived to check on his family's home, it was already demolished.
"It just hurts to walk up here and see this building torn down after it's been in my family for over 100 years. My great grandfather had a shoe shine parlor there for years, and they lived upstairs, because there was an apartment upstairs," he said.
Manteen also said his mother ran a beauty salon out of the building before she died.
"That was a part of our income right there…for us to live," he said.
Now he and the rest of his neighbors are left picking up the pieces, finding closure beyond what was left in the ashes.
Windy conditions pose local fire risks
Windy and dry conditions in the area have created a risk for fires in the Baltimore area. Last Saturday, a brush fire broke out at Sheppard Pratt's Towson campus, according to Baltimore County Fire officials.
The fire, which started around 7 p.m., engulfed about 1.5 acres of land.
On the day of the fire, parts of the Baltimore region were under a Fire Weather Watch due to low humidity and strong winds. 58% of Baltimore County faced a moderate drought last week, while 41% of the county faced a severe drought, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDS).
The NIDS predicts more drought conditions in the coming weeks.
Overall, row home fires have also been an ongoing challenge for Baltimore City. In November 2024, a fire in the city's Greektown neighborhood left a woman dead and several people displaced. That fire, which happened in the 300 block of South Newkirk Street, displaced residents from eight to 10 homes. Over 100 firefighters responded to the blaze.
