Fire marshal investigating possible arson at state psychiatric hospital

Officials say they are investigating a possible arson after two vacant buildings at a state-owned psychiatric hospital in Southern Carroll County caught fire Saturday morning.

According to a social media post from the Maryland State Fire Marshal, emergency personnel from the Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department and other departments responded to Springfield Hospital Center shortly before 8 a.m. They found two buildings — both vacant — ablaze.

Heidi Rebello, spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health, said the Carroll County Fire Department secured the site and that there was no impact on patient living, patient care or staff operations.

As of early afternoon, there were no emergency personnel at the campus, though the faint smell of smoke remained. The fires took place in the Martin Gross complex, a series of old, vacant buildings atop a hill behind “no trespassing” signs.

The main building damaged by the fire appeared to have been empty for years, with vines and weeds growing along its walls, a collapsed roof and broken windows.

Downhill and along the street sat several residential buildings that are part of the psychiatric hospital complex. Those colonial-style brick buildings were not affected by the fire.

Drivers passing by occasionally slowed to rubberneck. A few pulled up to the Martin Gross complex to get a better look before a security guard directed them away.

According to a history published by the Maryland Department of Health, Springfield Hospital Center opened in 1896 and included numerous buildings on a bucolic campus that was once a farm.

By 1950, the site housed more than 3,000 people with mental illness. The inhumane conditions there sparked a public backlash, leading to reform.

Over time, the number of patients at the center dwindled as the field of psychiatry moved away from institutionalizing people and adopted community-based care and outpatient services.

Jordan Politis was on a daily walk around the campus Saturday with her coworker Terri, who declined to give her last name. The pair, employees of Springfield Hospital Center, had seen the smoke in the morning and went up the hill to view the damage.

Politis said it was a shame to see the buildings — some more than 100 years old — sit empty, rot and now burn. It is her understanding that their historic status and the presence of asbestos make it difficult to renovate the buildings.

The coworkers said the blaze was big news in Sykesville, a town of fewer than 5,000 residents.

“Probably all of Sykesville drove by today looking,” Terri said.

A team of deputy fire marshals is investigating the blazes as a possible arson and encouraging anyone with information to call 410-386-3050.

This story has been updated.