BALTIMORE, Md. — Dramatic images taken by one of the victims just after 2:30 in the morning show multiple rowhouses on Union Avenue in Hampden engulfed in flames.
“Went to my windows where I could see an orange glow and opened my shutters and saw that my neighbor’s house, we live in rowhomes, the front porch was completely engulfed in flames,” said Josh Sankovitch, “and then I heard a woman scream who turned out to be a neighbor from across the street.”
Moments later when firefighters arrived on the scene and doused the flames, they were able to assess the damage.
“At this time, we have a total of ten homes that are affected—-eight by fire and two by heavy smoke,” said Capt. Khalilah Yancey of the Baltimore City Fire Department, “We had one patient that was treated and transported with minor burns."
Considering the way the fire spread so quickly and the way it impacted so many homes, it’s truly remarkable that only one person suffered injuries.
City Councilmember Odette Ramos came to the scene to help guide victims to available services and to take a critical look at how the fire spread so fast.
“This fire went along the porch lines so we’re looking at what improvements we can make to the building code to make sure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again as we rehab homes, but right now, everybody’s okay thank God,” said Ramos, “We didn’t have any casualties so that’s the blessing here and the next thing to do is just support the families as they rebuild."
At this point, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.