Baltimore Fire Department

The Baltimore City Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire Sunday morning at 3023 La Rue Square in the Cherry Hill neighborhood, according to Lt. Paul Novak. The fire occurred around 11:30 a.m. on the second floor of a two-story dwelling. The residence was occupied at the time, but no one was injured, Novak said. Damage to the residence was extensive, but limited to the second floor, he said. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Three men were injured when a truck crashed into a city bus stop on Wednesday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The collision occurred about 7 a.m. near the intersection of West North and Park avenues, along the northern edge of the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood, said Capt. Roman Clark, a department spokesman. The three pedestrians, one 34-year-old and two 60-year-olds, were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Clark said. The crash is being investigated, Clark said.

Baltimore's Fire Department is overhauling its rescue teams and converting its Locust Point station into a new command center — moves designed to increase the availability of firefighters trained to work in deep water, collapsed buildings and other dangerous locations. Fire Chief James S. Clack said the changes — which come after a December accident that shut down the dive team — are needed to address shortcomings in the agency. Baltimore, he said, has fallen "a little behind" other big cities since the Sept.

A two-alarm fire engulfed a building containing several auto repair shops and the artist gallery Open Space in Baltimore's Remington neighborhood Wednesday night. One firefighter was sent to the hospital for minor injuries, and firefighters were evacuated after a portion of the building collapsed. The fire was reported about 6:30 p.m. and was still active as of 9 p.m. The building, at 2720 Sisson Street, also contains 22 apartments, but no residents were reported injured. Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Roman Clark said firefighters were trying to contain the blaze to the side of the building that housed four auto body shops.

A two-alarm fire engulfed a building containing several auto repair shops and the artist gallery Open Space in Baltimore's Remington neighborhood Wednesday night. One firefighter was sent to the hospital for minor injuries, and firefighters were evacuated after a portion of the building collapsed. The fire was reported about 6:30 p.m. and was still active as of 9 p.m. The building, at 2720 Sisson Street, also contains 22 apartments, but no residents were reported injured. Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Roman Clark said firefighters were trying to contain the blaze to the side of the building that housed four auto body shops.

A Baltimore Fire Department division developed to increase recruitment among black city residents and combat racial tensions within the department's ranks is set to be eliminated in a planned round of budget cutbacks. The move has caused concerns among African-American leaders in the department. Lloyd Carter, the deputy chief for recruitment, who would be reassigned under Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's budget for the next fiscal year, said he believes his position and the small division built around it should be saved.

Occupants of a Baltimore rowhouse where carbon monoxide gas is believed to have killed two people Tuesday had turned on a gas oven and left the door open, spreading lethal fumes through their second-floor apartment, according to the city's chief code inspector. The position of the oven has led officials to speculate that the occupants might have been using it as a heat source. City officials said someone covered the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil, blocking air vents and causing the gas to build up and then seep out. It was then swept up through a heating duct in a hallway ceiling and delivered by the ventilation system to virtually every room.

A firefighter sustained a minor knee injury in a two-alarm blaze at a home in Southeast Baltimore early Thursday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the 3700 block of East Pratt Street — near the border of the city's Highlandtown and Baltimore Highlands neighborhoods — about 12:20 a.m. and began fighting the fire, which had extended to an adjacent vacant home and another occupied home, said Captain Roman Clark, a department spokesman.

A two-alarm fire burned three homes in the city's Washington Village/Pigtown neighborhood on Friday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the scene in the 1100 block of Ward St. shortly after 6 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames, a dispatcher said. The fire extended to three homes — all of which were believed to be vacant — before being brought under control at 7:12 a.m., the dispatcher said. No injuries were reported to civilians or firefighters, he said.

Three men were injured when a truck crashed into a city bus stop on Wednesday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The collision occurred about 7 a.m. near the intersection of West North and Park avenues, along the northern edge of the city's Bolton Hill neighborhood, said Capt. Roman Clark, a department spokesman. The three pedestrians, one 34-year-old and two 60-year-olds, were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Clark said. The crash is being investigated, Clark said.

Over two years have passed since firefighter Mark Falkenhan was killed at an apartment fire on Dowling Circle in Towson. His death resulted, in part, from a collapse of the Incident Command System (ICS), when first-arriving units were faced with heavy fire and multiple rescues. ICS is a procedural policy for ensuring that command and control mechanisms are continually utilized during mitigation efforts at every incident. "Command" is assumed by the officer of the first-arriving unit and passed to the responding chief officer upon his or her arrival.

A firefighter sustained a minor knee injury in a two-alarm blaze at a home in Southeast Baltimore early Thursday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the 3700 block of East Pratt Street — near the border of the city's Highlandtown and Baltimore Highlands neighborhoods — about 12:20 a.m. and began fighting the fire, which had extended to an adjacent vacant home and another occupied home, said Captain Roman Clark, a department spokesman.

A Baltimore Fire Department division developed to increase recruitment among black city residents and combat racial tensions within the department's ranks is set to be eliminated in a planned round of budget cutbacks. The move has caused concerns among African-American leaders in the department. Lloyd Carter, the deputy chief for recruitment, who would be reassigned under Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's budget for the next fiscal year, said he believes his position and the small division built around it should be saved.

A two-alarm fire burned three homes in the city's Washington Village/Pigtown neighborhood on Friday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the scene in the 1100 block of Ward St. shortly after 6 a.m. and found heavy smoke and flames, a dispatcher said. The fire extended to three homes — all of which were believed to be vacant — before being brought under control at 7:12 a.m., the dispatcher said. No injuries were reported to civilians or firefighters, he said.

The Baltimore City Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire Sunday morning at 3023 La Rue Square in the Cherry Hill neighborhood, according to Lt. Paul Novak. The fire occurred around 11:30 a.m. on the second floor of a two-story dwelling. The residence was occupied at the time, but no one was injured, Novak said. Damage to the residence was extensive, but limited to the second floor, he said. Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Chief Kevin Cartwright, for years the primary spokesman and public face of the Baltimore Fire Department, is retiring at the end of this month to take a public relations position in the private sector. His city salary of nearly $100,000 is now up for grabs. Cartwright, who has been a member of the fire department since 1989 and a spokesman since 2002, confirmed his departure on Wednesday. "I've kind of been entertaining the idea, for a little bit, of pursuing some new challenges," he said.

A slimmed-down Edna Turnblad shared the stage with her creator, John Waters, last night, much to the delight of scores of star-crazed fans. Well, it wasn't exactly Edna, the zaftig stage mom from Waters' "Hairspray," who took to the stage at the Maryland Institute College of Art . Rather, it was actor John Travolta, who brought Edna to the big screen in the 2007 musical version of Waters' film, up there on the stage. But the crowd embraced him like one of their own. "You've always been my favorite actor," one fan said from the audience, noting that she spent her teen years with pictures of Travolta plastered to her wall.

Baltimore firefighters responded to a small bedroom fire Sunday afternoon in a second-floor apartment on the 2600 block of Loyola Southway in the Greenspring neighborhood. The fire was under control by 2 p.m. and did not spread beyond the apartment, said a Baltimore Fire Department spokesman, Kevin Cartwright, who added that the occupant of the apartment, who was not identified, refused to leave the premises. "There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation," Cartwright said.

Three firefighters were injured in a fire at a row house in West Baltimore on Wednesday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. The firefighters were each burned in the one-alarm blaze in the 2100 block of W. North Avenue, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a department spokesman. One firefighter suffered a first-degree burn to his face and ear, Cartwright said. Another suffered a second-degree burn to the left side of his face, and the third suffered a second-degree burn to his right cheek, he said.

A three-alarm fire gutted a three-story brick building of offices and apartments in Mount Vernon early Thursday morning, according to the Baltimore Fire Department. No injuries were reported in the blaze, which burned through what were believed to be first-story offices and second- and third-story apartments in the building near the intersection of North Calvert and East Read streets, the fire department said. Firefighters responded to the building about 12:45 a.m. and found heavy flames coming from all three stories of the building, which is at the end of a commercial row, the department said.