NEWS ALERT: A raging inferno tested the limits of city infrastructure as 200 firefighters battled through a massive 7-alarm mattress warehouse in West Baltimore.
Watch the video down below.
The blaze, which raged in a “stacked full” building of flammable materials, overwhelmed residential water mains and disrupted critical rail services.
The fire erupted at a multi-story mattress warehouse near North Bentalou Street and Edmondson Avenue.
After several hours, fire crews contained the blaze to the original building and downgraded it from seven to three alarms as they continued battling deep-seated hot spots.
Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace explained the complex challenges facing first responders.
“This has become a bigger city operation now,” Wallace said. “We have had some water pressure issues in the area. This is a residential area, so a lot of the water mains here are six-inch mains.”
He continued, “So, we’re at a point now where our fire flows have exceeded a lot of what the water grid has. Additional apparatus has been brought in.”
The warehouse’s multiple underground levels further complicated firefighting efforts, forcing crews to adopt a defensive strategy.
Firefighters positioned themselves on nearby rooftops and trucked in additional water to combat the flames. Despite these challenges, no injuries were reported among firefighting personnel.
The warehouse’s location next to Amtrak tracks created additional complications, disrupting train service between Wilmington and Washington, D.C.
Officials had to coordinate the de-energizing of overhead train lines, affecting both MARC and Amtrak services.
This required coordination between multiple agencies, including the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, MTA, Baltimore County resources, and even BWI-Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Mayor Brandon Scott described the response as “an all-hands-on-deck effort,” while a Baltimore Police Department helicopter provided aerial reconnaissance to check for potential structural collapse.
Though no imminent collapse was detected, arson investigators were dispatched to the scene as part of standard procedure.
The Maryland Department of Environment advised residents to avoid the area and move indoors if affected by smoke, which was so dense it appeared on Doppler radar.
Light winds pushed the smoke north toward Druid Hill, creating health concerns for nearby communities.
The Red Cross stepped in to assist 15 households displaced by the fire, temporarily housing them in a hotel.
The warehouse fire follows another recent blaze in downtown Baltimore that injured two firefighters, one critically.
Weather forecasts predicted rain, which was expected to aid firefighting efforts as crews continued working to fully extinguish the remaining hot spots within the contained area.
Initial reports suggesting a car might have entered the building have not been confirmed as investigations continue.
