On Feb. 4th Baltimore firefighters responded to a fire at the Penn Lumber Company at 601 Pennsylvania Ave.just north of downtown.
Engine 23 was first on the scene and reported heavy smoke showing. There was limited access in the rear. A 3-story building stored with building materials was involved and went to 3 alarms in 19 minutes. About 20 minutes into the incident firefighters were ordered out of the building and without warning the whole building collapsed onto the men that had just exited, trapping several of them. One FF was on top of Truck 16 and was knocked off by bricks from the wall and a ground ladder that was up against it. BC 6 struck out a 4th alarm and declared a MAYDAY. The 5 firefighters were quickly rescued and none of them suffered any serious injuries. All of them were released from Shock Trauma by the following morning.
I had just arrived on the scene minutes after the collapse and photographed a couple of the guys being taken to the medic units.
Here is the scene as I came down the street:
Engine 23 was first on the scene and reported heavy smoke showing. There was limited access in the rear. A 3-story building stored with building materials was involved and went to 3 alarms in 19 minutes. About 20 minutes into the incident firefighters were ordered out of the building and without warning the whole building collapsed onto the men that had just exited, trapping several of them. One FF was on top of Truck 16 and was knocked off by bricks from the wall and a ground ladder that was up against it. BC 6 struck out a 4th alarm and declared a MAYDAY. The 5 firefighters were quickly rescued and none of them suffered any serious injuries. All of them were released from Shock Trauma by the following morning.
I had just arrived on the scene minutes after the collapse and photographed a couple of the guys being taken to the medic units.
Here is the scene as I came down the street:
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