OnsceneALERT
Jan 25, 20223 min
Updated: Jun 13, 2023
CRITICAL INCIDENT NOTIFICATION
MAJOR FIRE
UPDATE ON JANUARY 24, 6:41pm ET
BALTIMORE — Three Baltimore firefighters were killed and a fourth was injured when part of a vacant home collapsed while they were battling a blaze early Monday, the city's fire chief said. The Baltimore City Fire Department said in a tweet that firefighters were responding to a blaze at the three-story rowhome when the four were trapped inside. Crews removed piles of debris to locate the firefighters, the department said.
Chief Niles R. Ford told a news conference that injured firefighter John McMaster was pulled from the rowhome immediately and taken to the hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Monday afternoon. Dr. Thomas Scalea of Maryland Shock Trauma. said McMaster is on life support. "Fingers crossed that he's going to make it and be just fine," Scalea said. "It's hard to know at this point."
Two other firefighters were pronounced dead at the hospital, Ford said. The fourth trapped firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene, the chief said, his voice breaking at times. Ford identified the dead as Lt. Paul Butrim, firefighter / paramedic Kelsey Sadler and EMT/firefighter Kenny Lacayo. Scalea said Sadler and Lacayo suffered cardiac arrest at the scene and couldn't be resuscitated. "Today, Baltimore has lost three of the bravest among us," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "Baltimore owes them the deepest gratitude and respect that we can offer anybody."
Photographs from the scene showed firefighters being consoled by their comrades. Later, an excavator could be seen clearing the remaining debris, leaving a gap between two rowhouses. Three firefighters were injured battling a blaze at the same location in 2015, The Baltimore Sun reported.
ORIGINAL POST
Three firefighters were seriously injured after being trapped in a vacant home on fire in Southwest Baltimore, according to the city fire department and the firefighters’ union. Crews are still working to recover a fourth firefighter inside, according to Baltimore Fire Dept spokeswoman Blair Adams. Around 6 a.m. Monday, firefighters arrived on the scene of a fire in the 200 block of South Stricker Street in the city’s New Southwest/Mount Clare neighborhood. While fighting the blaze, the three-story home partially collapsed and trapped the four firefighters inside, Niles Ford, the city fire chief, said in a tweet. One firefighter was rescued immediately, he said.
“Immediately & as quickly as possible, we removed piles of debris in order to locate the trapped members,” Ford said.
Two other firefighters were rescued “within an hour” and taken to Maryland Shock Trauma, Ford said. By about 11:45 a.m., the home had collapsed entirely, and firefighters had taken to the roof of a home next door as smoke wafted from the ruins. Then, crews began using an excavator to clear the debris of the destroyed home.
Officials confirmed the deceased members include Lt. Paul Butrim, Firefighter-Paramedic Kelsey Sadler and EMT-Firefighter Kenny Lacayo.
Source Agency (FireRescue1)
Alerting Agency: OnsceneALERT.com
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OnSceneALERT
"Disasters Don't Give Warnings, But We Do"
Incident Number
2-220124-6401
Alert Type
Critical Incident Notification
Incident Type
Major Fire
Incident Occurred
January 24, 2022
Alert Posted
January 24, 2022
Location
Baltimore, MD
END OF ALERT