________________________________________________
EMMITSBURG, Md. -- At approximately 6 a.m. on April 3, former Vigilant Hose Company Chief Frank Davis was cleaning up equipment from the annual seafood bonanza at the fire station when the tones sounded for a structure fire.
When he opened the bay doors, smoke started coming into the firehouse. "I could see the glow in the second-story windows across from the building. I asked for a second alarm, and advised what we had..."
The three-story brick building on the square in Emmitsburg -- about a half block from the fire station -- had a pizza shop on the first floor, and 16 apartments on the second and third.
Crews were advised by residents that some of their neighbors had re-entered the building to alert others to the fire. Davis said firefighters grabbed a line, and headed in the front door. "The people said those who had gone back in hadn't come out..."
Deputy Chief Jim Click assumed command, and directed the incoming units as well as keeping tabs on his interior crew.
Firefighters would soon discover that the residents as well as others couldn't come back down the stairs. Instead, they went up and out a fire escape on the back of the building.
Once they ascertained that all the occupants were safely out of the historic structure, the evacuation tones were sounded. After firefighters were accounted for, crews blitzed the raging blaze with a master stream.
Davis said the operation was already established, and crews were waiting for the interior people to evacuate.
Town officials opened up valves to keep the water pressure up.
The fire spread quickly from the second floor to the third and attic.
A resident in a second floor apartment was arrested for starting the fire in an apparent suicide attempt.
Chief Chris Stahley credited a recent decision of the building's owner for saving lives. "He recently had a fire alarm system and more smoke detectors installed."
The alarms alerted residents to the fire. "Despite the fire, heat, smoke and water, some of those detectors were still going off the next day..."
Stahley said crews managed to keep the fire from spreading to the bank which is connected to the building. The first floor -- where the pizza restaurant is located -- sustained smoke and water damage.
"We had pre-planned the building. We always knew if it caught fire, it would go fast. And, it did. It travelled really fast."
Stahley praised firefighters for working together as a team to bring the fire under control.
Command was terminated in about eight hours. The street near the old hotel remains closed while engineers determine the next move.
Susan Nicol | News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.
