Firefighter killed, 4 injured in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP)-- A quickly heightening blaze that engulfed several rowhouses in northwest Baltimore late Thursday afternoon left one firefighter dead and 4 others hurt, city authorities said.

The injured firefighters sustained differing degrees of burns and are getting medical treatment, officials stated at a press conference Thursday night outside Baltimore's Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical System.

The Baltimore Fire Department has dealt with growing debate in current months over its policies and training after three firefighters died while battling a vacant rowhouse fire early last year. Local authorities required additional oversight of the agency and the department's previous leader resigned in the middle of the chaos.

James Wallace, who was sworn in earlier this month as Baltimore's new fire chief, said the blaze "appeared to rapidly grow in intensity" not long after firefighters arrived on scene.

" Tonight, it is with a heavy heart that I should announce one member has unfortunately died as a result of his injuries," he stated, declining to launch the firefighter's name pending next of kin alert.

The two-alarm fire broke out just before 4 p.m., authorities stated. Video from regional television stations showed several rowhouses swallowed up in flames, with parts of the structures collapsing and black smoke billowing from their windows and roofs.

No civilian injuries have actually been reported and the reason for the fire remains under examination.

Wallace said a minimum of among the structures involved appeared to be inhabited. He stated detectives have not identified why the fire heightened so quickly.

" What I can inform you is, we attacked this fire like we attack lots of fires," he stated.

Hours before authorities publicly confirmed the firemen's death, lots of first responders gathered outside the Baltimore hospital for a salute. Numerous later accompanied a Baltimore Fire Department ambulance in a sluggish procession through downtown.

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" Firefighters are our living superheroes, and we do not expect to lose them," Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby stated during the news conference. "It's a tip of what firefighters do regularly to protect and serve our city."

The January 2022 fire that eliminated three firefighters triggered increased analysis of Baltimore's fire department, which often is entrusted with reacting to treacherous conditions when flames break out in the city's lots of uninhabited buildings.

A report launched months later indicated many deficiencies that might have placed firefighters in unneeded threat when the three-story brick structure collapsed. Among other problems, it discovered there was no program in place to inform firefighters about unsafe and uninhabited structures before they made entry.