Three-alarm Guilford Avenue fire damages rowhomes, one occupant missing

A row of East Baltimore homes was left damaged, evacuated and cut off from gas Thursday after a three-alarm fire tore through the 2200 block of Guilford Avenue at 22nd Street, leaving at least one occupant unaccounted for and forcing neighbors out of homes in the middle of the day.

Crews were dispatched just before 12:30 p.m. to a dwelling fire in the 2200 block, where firefighters found heavy fire in a 2 1/2-story middle-of-group rowhome. Flames were already burning on the second and third floors when responders arrived, and the fire quickly spread to adjacent dwellings and through the roofline, prompting the higher alarm. Baltimore City Fire Chief James W. Wallace said one firefighter was injured in the response.

By the time crews were preparing to clear the scene in the afternoon, the impact had widened beyond the original home. Local reporting said at least five rowhomes were damaged or destroyed, a devastating hit on a dense city block where one burning house can quickly compromise the next. Two people were treated on scene for smoke inhalation, and the injured firefighter was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

A gas main leak added another layer of danger and disruption. Crews had to dig up part of the street to shut off the gas, and the block remained closed as firefighters and utility workers secured the area. For residents nearby, that meant more than smoke and fire damage: it meant displacement, uncertainty about insurance claims and rehousing, and the kind of sudden loss that can ripple through an entire row of attached homes.

Wallace leads a department of more than 1,600 uniformed personnel, and the scale of Thursday’s response showed how quickly an ordinary afternoon can become a neighborhood emergency in Baltimore. The fire’s cause remains under investigation, and authorities were still working to account for the missing occupant as the scene was stabilized and the damage came into sharper focus.