News

Actions

Firefighters respond to 2-alarm fire in east Baltimore, 33 residents displaced

Posted at 5:46 PM, Apr 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-17 09:00:24-04

Baltimore City firefighters responded to a 2-alarm fire that left 33 residents displaced in east Baltimore. 

More than 150 people were affected and 33 residents are being sheltered by the Red Cross, as of Monday morning.

No one was hurt and crews controlled the Lanvale Towers fire within an hour but it wasn't a welcome Easter Sunday surprise.

"When we looked out of the back of the building, smoke and flames were just everywhere," Valeria Brown told ABC2.

Charlene Harvey lives in Lanvale Towers. "It was a bad fire in there.  I know my stuff is probably destroyed but we have a good manager here that runs the building and I think everything should be alright."

It's not clear how much damage was done to the building but those who saw it happening were in shock. 

Resident, Daphane Pinckney, lives on the first floor of the building.  "You would have thought it was a scene form a movie, but it was actually going on," she said.

Some residents, like Valerie Brown, tried to help their neighbors.

"The security guards hit the alarm and tried to knock on peoples' doors to get them to come out of the building.

Once that happened, we looked in the back and everything was ablaze.  I have never seen anything like that in my life," Brown said.

After the initial investigation, firefighters discovered the fire started on the 8th floor before it extended to the roof at the Lanvale Towers. 

The cause of the fire is unknown. Red Cross officials assisted residents Sunday night. 

Around 3:30 p.m. fire crews were dispatched to the 1300 block in E. Lanvale Street for a a report of a fire with heavy smoke. 

Fire officials said that the fire was under control in an hour and no injuries reported. 

Editor's Note: The number of residents displaced has been updated from five to 33.