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Firefighters Battle 2nd 5-Alarm Fire In Baltimore City

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- For the second time in a matter of 12 hours, a five-alarm fire broke out in Baltimore City.

Baltimore's Historic Mt. Vernon area became a major fire ground just after 1:30 Tuesday morning.

Adam May reports the Park Plaza building at 800 North Charles was already burning fast when the first fire units arrived.

"The flames were just shooting, it was something out of a movie," said Michael.

"A fire continued to grow and the intensity ordered an evacuation due to the fact the fire burned through the roof," said Chief Kevin Cartwright, Baltimore City Fire.

It was the building's top floors that became the focus of the attack. Fortunately, no one was inside. The four upper floors are offices and non-profits. On the street level there are four restaurants, including the Helmund and Donna's.

Joey Olsen lives across the street and works at Donna's.

"Well, from my bedroom I can actually see roof of the building. From my bedroom and I could see the flames up there, so I decided to come down and check out the front of the building, since I had just left it a few hours earlier," said Olsen.

Despite, the efforts of 150-firefighters, the building continued to burn for hours.

The wind didn't help the situation.

"And we still have the heavy wind conditions, which fuel the fire, and it has presented a bit of a challenge. The one good thing is our firefighters are built tough. So they are up to the challenge and we are expected to be here for a couple more hours," said Cartwright.

"It is dangerous and look at all the water coming down," said Deborah.

Thousands of gallons of water, ruining the inside of the building, didn't do much for the items that did not burn.

It's hard to imagine two five-alarm fires coming so close together.

The cold conditions have made for some slippery streets.

One firefighter did hurt his knee battling the blaze and another was taken to the hospital for chest pains.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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