Fire Officials

Baltimore city fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire that started on the roof of a rowhouse in Pigtown Sunday afternoon. Fire officials responded to a call about a fire at 1169 Sargeant Street at 4:21 p.m., said Fire Captain Roman Clark. When officers arrived smoke was billowing from the roof and the occupants had evacuated. The fire had spread to the two neighboring homes as well, Clark said. The fire was extinguished quickly but extra time was needed for cleanup because more water than typical was used to extinguish the fire, Clark said.

When a fire broke out at a Canton warehouse April 22 and firefighters confirmed there were dangerous chemicals inside the building, it spawned some basic questions for reporters. What sorts of chemicals were present, and what risks do they pose? Did they cause any harm to people, animals or the environment? Officials with the fire department and Maryland Department of the Environment were forthcoming, explaining that powerful acids were stored in the warehouse for use in anodizing metals.

Like many dogs, Mae likes a good couch, long walks and a scoop or two of her Purina Pro Plan. But unlike others, the 6-year-old yellow Lab can be called away from her warm futon to help fire investigators search charred debris for flammable liquids, helping to determine whether arson might be the cause of a blaze. Mae is one of a half-dozen "accelerant" detection dogs in the state called out to fire scenes as far away as Cumberland or the nation's capital — sometimes as additional alarms are called for a structure fire and sometimes weeks after the debris has been soaked in heavy rain.

Howard County fire officials are warning residents to be careful how they dispose of smoking materials in the wake of three cigarette-related fires at Columbia houses in the past week. On Tuesday evening, a deck fire in the 8400 block of Kings Meade Way caused an estimated $10,500 in damages. Later Tuesday night, a townhouse deck in the 7200 block of Procopio Circle caught fire and caused an estimated $4,000 in damages. On the following morning, another deck fire at a townhouse in the 6500 block of Pressed Gentian caused an estimated $1,000 in damages.

Authorities are investigating a fire and an "attempted burning" in Eldersburg late Wednesday that appear to be suspicious, according to fire officials. Firefighters from Sykesville, Gamber and Liberty Road in Baltimore County battled a blaze at a vacant two-story house in the 1400 block of Liberty Road about 9:15 p.m., bringing it under control within about 15 minutes. The wooden structure had been boarded up and unoccupied for at least 10 years, fire marshals said. Because of its condition, no damage estimate was assessed.

A two-alarm fire injured two people and caused extensive damage to an apartment complex in Howard County early Saturday. Fire officials blamed a cigarette discarded in a pot containing a Christmas tree. A resident of an apartment in the 10000 block of Hickory Ridge Road called 911 at 5:46 a.m. after a smoke detector signaled a fire on her balcony. By the time fire crews arrived at 5:52 a.m., flames had engulfed 30 percent of the three-story building. A second alarm was called at 6 a.m., and it took 70 firefighters nearly a half-hour to control the blaze.

Fire officials yesterday continued to investigate the cause of a blaze at a city-owned senior citizens' building in North Baltimore that killed a man and injured five other people. The identity of the man who died in the fire Friday night was not available yesterday. The five other victims were released from area hospitals after receiving treatment for minor injuries, smoke inhalation and burns, said Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman This was the second fatal fire to occur this year at Lakeview Towers, a twin-tower complex.

Baltimore fire officials are concerned that an effort to encourage early retirements to save payroll costs may backfire as potential retirees wait and see what inducements the city will offer.Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, who has proposed saving $220,000 from the fire department's fiscal 1992 budget by eliminating 18 captain positions and replacing them with lieutenant positions, had hoped that enough fire department personnel would retire this year that there would be no need to actually demote people.

City fire officials yesterday renewed pleas for parents to make sure their homes are equipped with smoke detectors, a day after an 11-year-old boy died in a rowhouse fire in West Baltimore. Investigators announced yesterday that the house where Aaron Hodges died Sunday morning did not have a smoke detector. Investigators had not determined what started the fire, which caused an estimated $25,000 in damage to the rowhouse on the 2500 block of W. Fairmount Ave., said Battalion Chief Hector L. Torres, a Fire Department spokesman.

A 4-year-old boy was critically burned last night when he apparently started a fire at his Barclay Street home while playing with a cigarette lighter, city fire officials said.The victim, Ricky Washington, was in critical condition today at the regional burn unit of Francis Scott Key Medical Center.A firefighter assigned to Truck Company 5 was slightly injured fighting the fire, which was brought under control in about 20 minutes.Fire officials said the boy was alone in a room at 2328 Barclay St. shortly after 9 p.m. when he set something afire with the lighter.

Baltimore city fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire that started on the roof of a rowhouse in Pigtown Sunday afternoon. Fire officials responded to a call about a fire at 1169 Sargeant Street at 4:21 p.m., said Fire Captain Roman Clark. When officers arrived smoke was billowing from the roof and the occupants had evacuated. The fire had spread to the two neighboring homes as well, Clark said. The fire was extinguished quickly but extra time was needed for cleanup because more water than typical was used to extinguish the fire, Clark said.

Seven people were hospitalized Sunday morning after a vehicle collided with a "mobility" bus that was transporting five special-needs passengers, Anne Arundel County fire and police officials said. The two-vehicle accident — which occurred on College Parkway near Peninsula Farm Road, in the Arnold area of Anne Arundel County — was reported around 8:23 a.m., according to Anne Arundel Fire Division Chief Michael Cox. All of the victims were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, Cox said.

Crews from the Baltimore City Fire Department and the Maryland Department of the Environment worked most of Wednesday morning responding to a 2,000-gallon fuel spill from a train in South Baltimore. Fire officials said the train's fuel tank ruptured about 9:30 a.m. on the tracks along Fort Armistead Road. The spill is confined to the track area and no injuries have occurred, though it has disrupted rail traffic in the area. Officials have yet to determine what caused the rupture.

The Baltimore fire union has released video of a fire on Monday from which two people escaped by jumping out of a second-story window. An infant also was rescued, but fire officials could not confirm accounts that it was dropped from a window and into the arms of a bystander. According to the Fire Department, one woman was taken to the burn center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and another was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The infant was treated at Johns Hopkins Pediatric Center.

A four-alarm house fire early Friday in Cumberland has claimed the lives of two young sisters, according to an afternoon statement from the Maryland State Fire Marshal. Paige M. Ford, 7, was rescued through a window on the second story of the row house. She was suffering cardiac arrest, received CPR at the scene and was taken to Western Maryland Regional Medical, where she was pronounced dead. Her 4-year-old sister, Jymera D. Ford, was missing for several hours. Firefighters located her body in a second-floor bedroom.

Mary Hines spent three decades in the city school system, first as a teacher, then as a principal. Even after she retired in 1981, she didn't stop instructing others, spending her final years heading up adult Bible study classes at her church. "She had a passion for education," said the Rev. Albert L. Davis Sr., her minister at Eastern United Methodist Church in East Baltimore. Hines, 84, died Thursday morning in the rowhouse she had lived in much of her life when a fire swept through the front rooms.

Baltimore fire officials agreed yesterday to stop igniting city buildings for training - a practice rarely used in large Northeastern cities because it is widely considered unsafe - until an investigation into the death of a cadet is complete. A Fire Department spokesman also said that other training practices will be re-examined to avoid further tragedies. The cadet, Racheal Wilson, 29, died Friday in a fire set by her instructors in a vacant rowhouse on South Calverton Road that was in a block slated for demolition.

Five people were in serious condition after a carbon monoxide leak was reported in Baltimore County, fire officials said. The leak was reported at about 9 a.m. at a residence in the 4100 block of Link Ave. in Nottingham. The victims were taken to an area hospital, a fire dispatcher said. Fire officials believe the toxic gas might have leaked from the hot water heater. jkanderson@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and City Fire Chief James Clack reminded residents Thursday to check their smoke alarms and call 311 if they need a free one from the fire department. The reminder came hours after an elderly woman died in a rowhouse fire . “The single most important life-saving device in a home is a smoke alarm,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake in a statement. “We also ask our citizens to check on elderly friends and neighbors to ensure they have working smoke alarms in the home and to help us get the word out about our free smoke alarm program.” Under the program, the fire department will respond within two hours to install a smoke alarm.

The New Year's Day blaze that damaged a Brooklyn Park house and was accompanied by racial and sexual slurs painted on the home's exterior was arson, according to the Anne Arundel County fire department. The fire, in the 300 block of Church St., displaced two white women — one elderly and one disabled — and their caregiver, Korrey Tubaya, who is African American. Tubaya said Tuesday that this was the second incident in which he believes he was the target. In September, his car was severely damaged, and racial slurs were scratched into it. Police said that incident remains under investigation, and they are working with the Fire Department on the investigation of the home arson.