Posted on 01/25/22
| News Source: WBAL
Monday's fatal fire in southwest Baltimore shocked the city fire department and fire departments across the country as an investigation gets underway.
This investigation is personal for the federal, state and Baltimore City agents investigating an origin and cause of Monday's fire at a vacant rowhouse in the 200 block of South Stricker Street.
"It is a tragic loss for all of us because we are family and we lost a lot of family yesterday," Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci said. "There's a lot of damage to the structure. We may not be able to determine a cause."
City fire officials said the fire started around 6 a.m. and the building partially collapsed, trapping four firefighters inside. Three fire service members died, and a fourth remains hospitalized at Shock Trauma.
"We are all heartbroken," Geraci said.
Investigators went door to door in the neighborhood, searching for surveillance video that may help them figure out who entered and left the building. A specialized crew from Montgomery County shored up the structure so investigators could safely dig through the rubble.
"We know there is no power to the building. We know there is no electric in the building. So, those types of sources have been ruled out," Geraci said.
Investigators are also looking into a 2015 fire at the same location that left three firefighters injured. Investigators are looking for comparisons.
The 11 News I-Team looked into who owns the vacant home and learned the property owners now live in Pennsylvania. One of their relatives, Jeffery Shore, told the I-Team: "It's sad three people lost their life because the city didn't do their job keeping squatters away. My relatives shouldn't have left the property abandoned."
"There must be a plan in place moving forward to prevent this from happening again," Geraci said.
City Hall officials told the I-Team that the building will be torn down after the property is released from the investigation.