BALTIMORE — Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at a warehouse in Southeast Baltimore for several hours, leading to a hectic afternoon in Baltimore's Highlandtown neighborhood.
The fire department received multiple calls reporting a fire at 4215 Eastern Avenue at 3 p.m.
Firefighters arrived on scene and reported heavy smoke coming from the warehouse, immediately calling it a working fire.
"They made a tactical decision not to enter this building," Fire Chief James Wallace said. "This is a metal building, this is an older building, so structural stability, given the amount of fire that was found when they arrived, structural stability was a concern."
Officials say all occupants have safely evacuated the warehouse, and no injuries were reported.
There were hazardous materials inside the warehouse, but they were stored properly and secured. But, because of where the building is, getting water to attack the flames from above was difficult.
"Hydrants were a bit of a challenge down here, plus, as you can tell, this is kind of toward a dead-end street, so what they've had to do, we've really taxed out all the hydrants in the immediate area; they've actually made lines from up at Eastern and Haven," Chief Wallace said.
Traffic was significantly impacted as a result; officers attending to the fire scene even had to run over and respond to a crash around 5 p.m.
"There's a lot going on in this area," said Amya Forest, who lives nearby. "It's been a couple of fires in the area, like small kitchen fires and stuff, but never this big."
Firefighters managed to contain the blaze by 6 p.m., but remained on scene to put out any hot spots.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is currently believed to be accidental.
