May 13 (UPI) — More than two dozen West Baltimore residents were evacuated from their homes overnight as firefighters continued to battle a six-alarm blaze at a mattress warehouse that was sending plumes of smoke above the city.
The Baltimore City Fire Department confirmed in an early Tuesday statement on social media that at least 30 residents near the fire at Edmondson Avenue have been temporarily evacuated.
Officials were also working to restore Amtrak services by 2:30 a.m. EDT as overhead lines on tracks abutting the rear of the warehouse at Edmondson Avenue and Bantalou Street were de-energized due to the fire. Amtrak confirmed online that local municipal officials had placed “a hold on all tracks in West Baltimore.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the multi-story mattress warehouse shortly before 7 p.m. Monday to find what officials described as a “heavy fire,” which was upgraded to a four-alarm blaze 22 minutes later.
Some 200 firefighters were battling the blaze, officials said. No injures have been reported.
During a press conference on Monday night, Baltimore fire chief James Wallace said it had become a six-alarm blaze.
“This has become a bigger city operation now,” he said.
He said the building, which stands three stories above ground, also has two sub-level floors.
“It’s a large basement area. It’s the size of the building and we’re told it’s stacked full of mattresses,” he said.
He added that authorities are unsure of exactly what is fueling fire. While they’ve been told it’s mattresses, there were also informed at one point paint was also in the facility, concrete and brick.
“We’re fighting what we see,” he said.
In an earlier press conference, Wallace told reporters the challenge was they were fighting the blaze from the outside and they had yet to gain access to the large facility.
“Given the size of this building, the size of the fire, we’re having to be very cautious, very meticulous as we move in there,” he said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, and the blaze was still uncontrolled early Tuesday.
Wallace said they are working to prevent it from spreading to other buildings.
Wind, he explained, which is usually a hindrance, was aiding firefighters by pushing the blaze toward the back of the facility where the train tracks were and away from nearby buildings.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to cut this off,” he said.