A paradoxical scare unfolded Thursday morning when the Baltimore Fire Department’s downtown headquarters was evacuated due to a fire.
The department sent out a tweet around 11 a.m., roughly a half-hour after department spokeswoman Blair Skinner said flames began showing on the sixth floor. The cause was an electrical fire, she said.
#BCFD Fire HQ had to be evacuated due to an electrical fire. No injuries and everyone made it out safely. It’s now U/C and people have been cleared to return in the bldg. @MayorPugh50 @ChiefNilesRFord pic.twitter.com/dMDlqoD3ry
— Baltimore Fire (@BaltimoreFire) March 1, 2018
The building was quickly evacuated, and given units’ immediate proximity to the blaze, “it was just a matter of minutes” before it was put out, Skinner said.
The exact cause of the electrical fire remains under investigation.
The 37-year-old building, located at 401 E. Fayette Street, also houses the city’s departments of finance and information technology.
