Baltimore MD - Approximately one hundred people were evacuated safely from their apartments after a three alarm fire broke out late Friday night in Baltimore.
The blaze occurred at about 10:40 PM at 6350 Red Cedar Place, a four story building that is home to many elderly residents, most of whom are Jewish.
“I heard a single knock at our door,” said one building resident. “My wife and I ran out of the house in our robes. We took nothing with us, just our lives. Tens and tens of Jews came out, offering people blankets, taking total strangers home. It was very, very special.”
Witnesses describe flames shooting through the roof of the building as a large number of fire engines and emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.
“We saw people being taken out of the building, some on gurneys,” Dr. Linda Nieman, who lives one building away from the site of the blaze, told the News.
“They were taking people out through windows and down ladders. It is amazing that no one was hurt. We all have a lot to be thankful for. It was so close and so scary. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life.”
The fire was put out shortly after midnight. Reports in the Baltimore Sun state that the fire was contained to only two units, but one resident said that while there were a few fourth floor units in the front of the building that were destroyed by the fire, a significant portion of the back of the building was completely burned out.
Additionally the third floor apartments directly below the site of the conflagration sustained serious water damage and many units in the building have considerable smoke damage.
No residents are being allowed back in the building for the next few days as building management is attempting to clear the scene as quickly as possible and a security team has been hired to patrol the property.
One contractor who was at the building today estimated that damages to the building would likely be in the millions. While the Red Cross took some residents to hotels and others went to stay with family and friends, others were totally dependent on the kindness of strangers.
“I borrowed clothing to wear to Shul today,” said one building resident who was taken in by someone he had never met before. “People came around today asking me if I needed a place to stay, or a meal. The outpouring of support from the frum community has been amazing. Thank G-d no one was hurt.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation though one resident in an adjacent building reported electrical problems in the complex on Friday.
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