Baltimore County website
Another picture of new Engine 6 under collapsed roof
Listen to the dispatch of Fire Box 6-8 for “Station 6″
Damage pictures from Baltimore County Fire Department
An alarm alerted firefighters to a fire in the bay area of Baltimore County Station 6 at 2815 Sollers Point Road around 2:30 this morning. The fire went to two-alarms and there were no injuries. This is the Baltimore County Fire Department’s career station in Dundalk.
A Baltimore County Fire Department spokesperson says the firefghters were able to get one engine out of the firehouse (reported to be Engine 61) and begin attacking the fire. The station had additional personnel because many firefighters scheduled to work the next day were sleeping at the station due to the latest snowstorm.
A new $600,000 fire engine, received last week (apparently not even placed in service yet), was destroyed along with two medic units and a brush truck. WJZ-TV reports a National Guard Humvee assigned to the station for the snowstorm also was damaged.
Here are more details in excerpts from a Baltimore Sun report by Peter Hermann:
Officials said firefighters sleeping in the firehouse’s living quarters, which is next to the fire engine bay, awoke to the sound of a fire alarm. When they opened the bay door, they saw heavy smoke and fire and immediately evacuated, Price said. Numerous explosions were reported from oxygen tanks in the medic units.
Inside were eight firefighters and paramedics assigned to the overnight shift, as well as five firefighters from day work who spent the night and two members of the National Guard who were helping crews respond to calls in the heavy snow storm. Price said one firefighter managed to drive one engine out of the bay and crews were able to train hoses on the fire “to keep it in check.”
Click the image for Google Maps Street View of Station 6.
But the fire quickly spread and dozens of firefighters from other companies were called in to help. Shortly after 4 a.m., fire commanders deemed the building unsafe and crews were ordered to train water on it from the outside. Price said the roof collapsed from the fire, which was placed under control shortly after 4:30 a.m.Three manhole covers then exploded about a block away, at Merritt Boulevard at Sollers Point Road, due to a natural gas leak. No injuries were reported. This morning, a crane was called in to removed debris.
According to the Baltimore County website, Station 6 houses Engine 6, Engine 61, Brush 6, Medic 6 and Medic 106.
Engine 61 at the firehouse from the Station 6 website.
Also on STATter911 …
- Raw video from Michael Schwartzberg in Baltimore County. Two-alarms at Towson, Maryland medical office. – December 21, 2010
- Raw video: Two-alarm apartment building fire in Reisterstown, Maryland. – April 21, 2012
- Fireground audio & raw video: Baltimore battalion chief calls in dwelling fire with jumpers. – January 24, 2012
- Raw video & fireground audio: House fire in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. – March 1, 2011
Comments
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Must have only been heat detectors in the apparatus bay … that might explain how this fire got such tremendous headway before any firefighters became aware of it. I guess the bay was also not equipped with sprinklers. It’s good that no personnel were injured.
The station looked pretty nice before the fire. Maybe if they would have put a little less into appearance and more into automatic sprinklers they wouldn’t be in this predicament. Appearance over substance triumphs again.
Your a moron
Dave there is one minor mistake in this article. The Baltimore County Fire Dept does not increase staffing for any weather emergencies or disasters. Chief Hohman does not believe the firefighters/ medics need any additional help dealing with severe storms. The EOC does request help from the Nat Guard for Hummer crews(two personnel) that are placed in various stations. They are not for suppression use. EMS only. The other personnel at station 6 were spending the night because they had to work the next day.
Criterion would like to let you guys know that you are not alone.
Hold on. Be safe.
God Bless
Prayers and Best wishes to our brother firefighters affected by this fire..
SA….SHUT UP Unless you actually something positive to say, this isn’t the time to criticize especially when you don’t know what you are talking about.
It’s very sad that in this day and age we continue to burn down our own buildings because we fail to take our own advice. Automatic sprinklers would have probably prevented this tragic loss of equipment. Fortunately the crews were able to escape uninjured. I would like to think that this would be a wake up call for the politicians of the area, but unfortunately I know better. Good luck and stay safe.
Hey SA who the hell are you? My brother works at that station dude and thank GOD he was off. I’ve been in that station dozens of times and if you knew anything about firefighting which it’s obvious you DON’T then you’d know that the O2 tanks were right there and that they cause explosions. So before you go criticizing how a station looks, I suggest you look at how many runs this station gets…one of the bussiest in Baltimore county.
SA – Stupid As
SA = Stupid As s
sorry for the loss of your station and equipment but Thank GOD you all got out safely. Equipment can be replaced, our brothers cannot.
Maybe it caused by members shooting bottle-rockets at each other inside the station? Oh, sorry, that is PG County’s wonderful fire dept.
I feel for the FF’s and Medics. We recently open a new 15,000 sqft station and the only area that is sprinkled is the bunkrooms. So unless the fire actually starts in the bunk room, they do us no good. Maybe some enlightenment will come about this in many commnuities and cities. I, for one, am forwarding this on to the City council and Mayor of our city. Stay safe my brothers and sisters.
Might as well attack the messenger since we ratioally can’t argue with his point…..
*rationally
Sprikler…Sprinkler…Sprinkler.. Heat detecors are 194o Rate Of Rise and should have given plenty of warning. Something else went wrong and went very fast! Glad that all the brothers got out OK. Nice that they got to put water on it too! I wonder if that new apparatus had anything to do with the fire?
Retired FI, NY.
If the cause of this fire was started buy an electrical problem with a medic unit with a fiberglass engine cover, I doubt very seriously that a sprinkler system would have done a whole lot to keep this fire from extending to the roof area. I believe the roof material was made of metal trusses and plywood sheeting. this of course would have been above the sprinkler system. Glad everyone is OK. This could have been a lot worse
Building was renovated in 1986, per Sta. 6 website. For all of those who are throwing out the “teach what you preach” with sprinklers, it was not required at the time the building was built or renovated. Now Md. law requires sprinklers in all fire stations being built.
Glad to hear our brothers are safe, that is whats important.
AMEN WWW and ANONYMOUS
I think the crews did a great job getting what equipment they did get out as well as themselves. Maybe the public will see just how dangerous a job we firefighters have. Disaster can strike even as close as our own stations. I hope the station can soon get back on its feet for the sake of the community and the station members. Stay Safe. Everyone Goes Home.
The Roof was supported by wooden trusses with gusset plates as we noticed after the knockdown of the fire. To tell you the truth i dont know if sprinklers would’ve helped As if it did start in the medic the O2 cylinder ventin before exploding would have given the fire unsoppable power basicly for a few moments. With the amount of damage to the equipment IE the aluminum actully burning it’s damn amazing it didn’t get into the living quarters or injure one of the on duty personal
Larry says, “it was not required at the time the building was built or renovated.”
Whether or not it was required is not relevant, they could have included sprinklers in the renovation if they wanted to. As I stated earlier, I’m glad that nobody was injured. It would absolutely be a good idea to have fire sprinklers in fire stations. This is not a ‘shot’ on any department, it’s just common sense.
I think anyone who wants to bash firefighters and the amazingly hard jobs that they do everyday, is a COMPLETE AND TOTAL A*S !!! One of these days you are going to need the services of these brave men and women and when you do – I hope you get the best care from a firefighter/medic who doesn’t know who your sorry a*s is.
God Bless all FF/Medics and future FF/Medics.
Thank God you all got out safe and you all are in my thoughts and prayers. Stay safe out there.
I worked at that station many times…If you some of you idiots knew anything about it…you wouldn’t run your mouth as you do…
Glad to hear that everyone is ok and doind well.. A brother 1311…. Member retired to West Va!
So what type of Engine was the new piece that was destroyed?
Glad everyone is safe.
and now wayne has to run his mouth too,thats as funny as a fire house catching on fire…lol
Station 6 Gamewell 15 Inch Housegong was successfully removed by John Bryan (see Paul Detzel’s Book Fire Alarm Chapter 5)after safe recovery of Engine 6 and Medic Unit. Gong dates back to old Station 6 CIRCA 1919. Gong was wet and snow covered and received slight darking from fire, inside works excellent shape. Gong was dryed off and preserved for future generations of Station 6 Firefighters.
Thanks GOD everyone was out uninjured and that is the most important thing at this moment. As for the investigation and root cause, I am sure we will hear about it very soon with some good recommendations that we will all around the world learn from. It is just like we say in Arabic “we learn from a bad experience that will save us and the rest of the world in the future”.
SA I agree with you. What does WWW have in his head ROCKS???