A Mayday was declared on the fireground when a Baltimore (MD) firefighter got into trouble while responding to a fire in a vacant structure on Tuesday evening.
Just before 10:30 p.m., firefighters responded to the 1800 block of Aisquith Street for a fire at a two-story home. The fire spread to a total of four homes, the department reported on social media, forcing firefighters to upgrade to a second alarm.
Vacant Buildings: Scourge of the Fire Service
As firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, one member fell through the first floor to the basement. Crews worked quickly to remove the firefighter, who was immediately rescued and taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Earlier this year in January, three Baltimore (MD) firefighters—Lieutenant Paul Butrim, Acting Lieutenant Kelsey Sadler, Firefighter/Paramedic Kenneth Lacayo—were killed and another, EMT/Firefighter John McMaster, was injured in a collapse at a vacant structure. The fire was ruled incendiary and the firefighter’s deaths homicides. In the wake of that fire, the city undertook a review of efforts to reduce its large number of vacant properties.
