By David Statter
STATter911.com
BALTIMORE — STATter911.com has exchanged emails with Baltimore Fire Department Chief Jim Clack this evening. The chief has given us a preliminary run down of what happened leading up to what he says appears to have been a flashover at the fire on Northeast Avenue this morning.
According to Chief Clack the fire started in the basement of an occupied row house and appears to have been burning for “a while” before the fire department arrived. The first engine took a line through the front door to the rear kitchen area. The chief says that crew had some trouble finding the basement stairs. They were in the kitchen when it flashed.
We have been told it is the officer of that crew who was admitted to the hospital in stable condition with burns to the ears, neck and face.
Another engine company went to the rear with a line to the outside stairwell leading to the basement. The chief says that crew was just starting down those stairs “when the fireball came up the stairwell into the back yard as well”.
Chief Clack tells us, “The first truck vented some skylights on the roof as well as the front basement windows before the explosion.”
The chief also writes, “Lots of ‘personal’ property” in the basement made getting to the seat of the fire very difficult.”
Five firefighters were hurt in the flashover. One remains hospitalized in stable condition. Two other were hurt during overhaul.