At 8 p.m. on April 3, units from the Hagerstown Fire Department were alerted for a house fire with a person possibly still inside at 44 East Franklin Street.
Crews found heavy smoke coming from the front of the building and a large volume of fire from the rear of the structure, with a report of an occupant trapped inside. They immediately went inside the building attempting to extinguish the fire and search for the reported victim.
However, the fire was well advanced and forced crews out of the building and to continue the attack of the fire from the outside. During this transition, all occupants were accounted for except for one.
Crews attempted multiple times to advance back into the structure from both the front and rear of the building, but were pushed out by the massive fire load. Ladder trucks were utilized to flow copious amounts of water onto the blaze to gain control of the fire.
Eventually crews were able to make entry back into the structure and worked aggressively to extinguish the blaze, which had advanced throughout the walls and ceiling of the structure. Firefighters worked several hours conducting extensive operations to ensure that the fire was extinguished.
One fatality was found in a first floor apartment.
The fire heavily damaged the building at 44 – 46 East Franklin Street, an 11-unit apartment building that had nine units occupied at the time of the blaze. The adjoining structures at 40 – 42 and 48 – 50 sustained damage as well.
There were over 115 firefighters on scene as more than 19 companies from Washington County, Maryland, Franklin and Adams counties in Pennsylvania assisted Hagerstown.
One firefighter was treated on scene and a second firefighter was transported to Meritus Medical Center.
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