A huge fire that broke out at a mattress warehouse in West Baltimore on Monday was contained by Tuesday. No one was injured, but Amtrak service was affected.
On Tuesday morning, the Baltimore City Fire Department said the fire had grown to seven-alarm status but wasn’t spreading, with personnel and equipment equivalent to those used for three-alarm fires going after hotspots in the building where the blaze remained.
In firefighting, alarms refer to the amount of equipment and personnel dispatched to combat blazes. In this instance, over 200 firefighters responded, according to The Associated Press.
Amtrak trains resumed Tuesday in a limited capacity, with the service warning on X that there would be residual 30-minute delays between Baltimore and the District of Columbia.
In addition to Amtrak, service on the Maryland Area Rail Commuter Penn Line was canceled Tuesday morning due to the fire and fears that the charred building could collapse onto the tracks nearby, the Maryland Transit Administration said on X.
Baltimore fire officials are working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to figure out what caused the fire and are focused on how to safely demolish the gutted structure.
“I was very adamant that I was not putting my people inside,” BCFD Chief James Wallace said, according to Baltimore’s WJZ-TV.
The fire initially broke out just before 7 p.m. Monday in the multistory West Baltimore warehouse, the Baltimore City Fire Department said on Facebook. Thirty residents in the surrounding area were evacuated.
The fire was partially fueled from the building’s two basement levels that were “stacked full of mattresses,” BCFD Chief James Wallace said, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Under order from city officials, Amtrak shut down service between the District and Wilmington, Delaware, officials for the train service said on X, and multiple trains between the nation’s capital and New York City were also canceled.
