ROSEDALE, Md. — On Wednesday night, several businesses were forced to close early due to a fire at a Rosedale auto body shop.
A mechanic was rushed to the hospital while parts of Philadelphia Road and surrounding streets were shut down.
Baltimore County Fire officials said the two alarm blaze took several hours to fully extinguish because so many things inside the shop were flammable.
“Rubber tires were burning and stuff like that,” said Patty Masters. “It was a lot of black smoke coming out of the roof.”
The co-owner of the shop said a longtime mechanic was working on a car when it ignited.
When firefighters arrived they sounded a second alarm to request double the units.
“They were able to guide him out of the building. They did not have to do a significant rescue, they were able to find him and guide him out of the building,” said Lt. Twana Allen with the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Kamalmeet Singh and his father own a nearby liquor store.
They walked over with water bottles for firefighters and others impacted.
“It just our faith, it’s just what we’ve been taught. To give and to always think as one as a community rather than splitting each other into groups,” Singh said.
Kim Coleman owns the property and says the beauty shop, auto body shop, and tag and title store are all run by contractors.
All of the employees inside ran out.
“This is actually going to cause a lot of businesses to shut down,” Coleman said. “This is going to be hectic because we have been shut down before with the pandemic. This is going to be even more devastating to a lot of people.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the mechanic remains hospitalized. He’s expected to survive.
