The tenants of the Berkshires at Town Center Apartments in Towson didn’t know at first that their building was on fire. The alarms and sprinklers in the 12-story luxury complex never activated, they said.
By the time they noticed a strong burning smell or discovered the hallways choked in smoke, many were trapped. Some fled to their balconies or climbed onto the building’s 14-inch ledges, waiting in near-freezing weather until firefighters rescued them.
Davion Mines jumped from his ninth-floor window to a balcony one level below, breaking his foot in three places. He was one of 14 people taken to the hospital.
“I couldn’t make it to an emergency exit,” Mines said. “I felt like I was going to die.”
Mines and more than 60 other tenants are now suing the Berkshires, alleging that its management was aware of fire-safety problems at the building long before the Jan. 19 blaze and repeatedly failed to correct them. At a hearing Wednesday on the complaint in Baltimore County District Court, lawyers for the two sides agreed to meet again on March 23 for a pretrial conference. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
County inspectors issued multiple warnings in the months before the fire that the building’s generator and sprinklers — its first lines of defense in an emergency — didn’t work, according to records reviewed by The Banner.
Those systems failed the night of the fire, allowing the blaze to intensify and leaving residents vulnerable, the lawsuit alleges.
Weeks before the fire, as many safety issues remained unresolved, a county appellate board issued a $15,000 fine and called the building management’s actions “unconscionable.”
“I don’t litigate cases in the press, but I think the public record speaks for itself,” Kenneth Frank, the tenants’ attorney, said in a text message.
In a statement provided through attorney Edward Maher, representatives of the Berkshires and its owner, New Jersey-based AJH Management, said they “maintain the property to the highest safety and maintenance standards.”
“Any generalized reference or complaint regarding building ‘conditions’ is unsubstantiated and without merit,” the statement reads. “Management has continually been and remains dedicated to the safety of our community.”
‘Very, very concerning’
Located on East Joppa Road steps from Towson Square, the Berkshires refers to itself as “Maryland urban apartment living at its finest.” Its amenities include an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a game room and a movie theater. Apartments were recently available starting at $1,350 a month.
The county fire marshal’s office noted problems with the building’s sprinkler system as far back as January 2024, according to inspection reports provided by the fire department. About a year later, after firefighters responding to an alarm uncovered additional safety concerns, the fire marshal began visiting monthly to provide education and oversight.
Still, the Berkshires’ problems continued.
The county cited the building last summer after fire and electrical inspectors flagged nearly two dozen violations. The backup generator and emergency lights didn’t work. The alarm system’s required inspection was overdue. The fire pump, which boosts water pressure for the sprinkler system, was broken and later replaced without the required permit.
“I just want to let you know, just to put it on the record, how serious this is, not having any type of life safety in that building,” Ty Basham, the county’s chief electrical inspector, testified at a hearing on the citation.
In a Sept. 11 ruling, Administrative Law Judge Derek Baumgardner upheld the citation, fined the building’s management and ordered it to make repairs within five days. He called conditions at the Berkshires “very, very concerning.”
Management appealed the fine. Meanwhile, subsequent inspections found that it had failed again to correct a number of violations.
The county Board of Appeals upheld Baumgardner’s ruling in a Dec. 3 decision while rebuking the building management’s continued noncompliance.
“The Board finds that not only is the delay of repairs unacceptable, but that the maintenance of vital systems was even allowed to deteriorate is unconscionable,” the three-member panel wrote seven weeks before the fire.
“Baltimore County law imposes an obligation on a landlord to maintain a safe environment and we find that duty was breached here.”
In an email, Maher said the repairs took time because they were complex and some equipment was delivered to the wrong location. He estimated the cost at over $120,000.
“As soon as management discovered there were faults with certain equipment,” Maher said, “they took immediate action to rectify the problem.”
‘I love u all’
The three-alarm fire Jan. 19 began on the third floor. It sent thick black smoke through the building, melted metal apartment numbers off doors and left behind a coat of soot, according to a fire report and interviews with tenants.
Alex Khosla, a tenant on the 10th floor, was heading to the laundry room when he noticed smoke seeping under neighbors’ doors and filling the hallway. He said he pulled the fire alarm, but nothing happened.
The dense smoke burned Khosla’s eyes and blocked his path down the stairs, so he climbed onto a narrow ledge outside his apartment and waited for help.
“If anything happens to me I love u all,” he texted his family, according to a screenshot shared with The Banner.
There were no fatalities. Firefighters rescued several residents by ladder and escorted others through smoky hallways.
The lawsuit alleges that the building’s sprinklers never activated. The generator also failed, which caused the alarms to malfunction and kept the central duct system from venting smoke, the suit claims.
While a fire report lists the cause of the blaze as “undetermined,” Maher said a tenant or visitor started it.
Residents said the fire’s effects have lingered.
Khosla said he’s developed post-traumatic stress disorder and has moved in with family near Pittsburgh. He suffers nightmares and experiences distress when he hears sirens or smells smoke.
After breaking his foot trying to escape the fire, Mines underwent surgery and has since been on crutches.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have some sort of flashback or memory of that night,” he said.
The lawsuit against the Berkshires was filed Feb. 12 under the Tenant Safety Act of 2024, a recent state law that requires rental housing to be free of serious defects, including fire hazards, that threaten tenants’ health or safety.
The law says landlords must repair dangerous conditions within a reasonable time once they become aware of them. If they don’t, courts can terminate leases, abate rent and order payment of relocation expenses, legal fees and other damages.
According to the lawsuit, the building’s management continues to demand full rent and is refusing to allow residents to break their leases without a penalty.
At least two inspections by fire marshals in the weeks after the blaze showed the sprinkler pump and some alarms still weren’t functioning properly.
Another fire broke out in the building Feb. 7, this time in a basement trash compactor, with smoke spreading to higher floors. There were no injuries.
A month after the second fire, the building remains out of compliance with safety codes, county spokesperson Dakarai Turner said.
This story has been updated.
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