3-alarm fire rips through upper levels of rowhomes in Barclay neighborhood

A three-alarm fire ripped through upper levels of rowhomes in Baltimore’s Barclay neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, fire officials said.

Firefighters responded to the 2200 block of Guilford Avenue just before 12:30 p.m. and found the second floor of a 2.5-story rowhome engulfed in flames, according to a social media post from the Baltimore City Fire Department.

The fire quickly spread to neighboring homes, prompting a third alarm, the Fire Department said.

Damage on the home indicates the fire went through the roof, according to the post. The second and third floors of about three of the cobblestoned rowhomes were reduced to rubble.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured or killed. Firefighters were still actively working to extinguish the fire an hour after it began.

Shannon Gillman and her family have been in their home in Barclay for less than a year, but she said she has connected with her friendly neighbors enough to be greatly concerned after seeing the blaze on Thursday.

“It was large billows of smoke and large billows of fire on the first and second floor touching the trees,” she said. “I was shocked because most of the neighbors you can see them coming in and out of the house, so you’re wondering if it’s someone you know.”

Gillman said she doesn’t suspect it’s anyone she knows personally, but it doesn’t ease her concerns. She, and many others, still want to know if anyone was home, if they’re safe and how other neighbors can help.

It was a sunny day with clear, blue skies, but streets in the Central Baltimore community were filled with puddles as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.

Guilford Avenue and East 22nd Street were surrounded by yellow tape and flooded with fire trucks, emergency vehicles, police cruisers and water spraying from various hydrants in the area.

The air smelled of smoke pouring from the now-charred rowhome where the fire began.

Fire officials said they are investigating the cause.

Kellynn Davis’ 2-year-old daughter ran to her wearing a Crayola onesie after hearing a loud booming sound near their home in the 2300 block of Guilford Avenue. “Mommy, what’s that?” the toddler asked.

Davis had just gotten home from her mother’s doctor’s appointment and was tending to her, so she shooed her daughter off, she said. But when she went to throw out the trash, she saw fire trucks descending on her neighborhood.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s going down out here,’” she said.

Davis, her two daughters and her sister stood outside watching firefighters cut down trees to reach the blaze, she said.

“The ash was coming down, literally getting in the kids’ eyes,” Davis said. She had to bring her 5- and 2-year-olds back inside.

She and her sister remained outside, though, even offering a firefighter a bottle of water.

This story has been updated.