Three-alarm warehouse fire in Highlandtown draws hours-long response

Smoke poured over the 4200 block of Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown on Tuesday afternoon, closing roads and drawing Baltimore City Fire Department crews to a three-alarm warehouse fire that could be seen from miles away, including downtown Baltimore. The blaze struck Alliance Exterior Construction, a longtime Baltimore contractor in a busy Southeast Baltimore corridor where warehouses, shops and neighborhood streets sit close together.

All occupants were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported in the initial response. Even so, the fire transformed the block for hours. Crews were first called shortly before 3 p.m. on April 28, and by about 6 p.m. firefighters had contained the flames, though they stayed on scene to knock down hot spots and prevent the fire from flaring back up.

Chief James Wallace said firefighters chose not to enter the building because it was an older metal structure and its stability was a concern after they found significant fire involvement on arrival. That decision underscored the scale of the emergency and the risk to crews inside a building that had already been heavily damaged.

The fire also carried a broader impact for Highlandtown and Brewers Hill, where Eastern Avenue serves as a major traffic route for commuters, workers and nearby businesses. Roads in the area were shut down, adding another layer of disruption to a neighborhood that mixes residential blocks with industrial and commercial uses. A nearby resident told CBS Baltimore the smoke and smell were strong enough to cause coughing, a sign of how far the scene reached beyond the warehouse itself.

Alliance Exterior Construction says it was founded in Baltimore in 1989 and specializes in roofing, wall panels and glazing, work that fits the kind of materials often stored at a site like this one. The company’s location on Eastern Avenue placed the fire in the middle of a corridor with deep industrial roots. Baltimore City historic materials describe Highlandtown as part of the city’s industrial development, with the neighborhood annexed into Baltimore City in 1919.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though officials currently believe it was accidental. Large fires are not unprecedented in the neighborhood: a separate three-alarm fire in Highlandtown in 2017 displaced 14 families on South Eaton Street. This week’s blaze did not force a housing evacuation, but it still left a visible mark on one of Southeast Baltimore’s most heavily traveled corridors and raised the question of how quickly nearby commerce can recover after a warehouse fire of this size.