Cause Sought After Fire Ravages NE Baltimore Warehouse

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Fire investigators are on the scene trying to figure out what started Thursday's massive warehouse fire in East Baltimore.

Derek Valcourt explains it took crews nearly three hours to bring that fire under control.

That's partly because the warehouse was filled with mattresses, which fueled the fire.

Heavy smoke began billowing from a massive warehouse complex along the 1700 block of Ellwood Avenue around 3:45 p.m. Thursday.

"It was real dark, so you couldn't see at all or drive," said Melvin Harding, witness.

Smoke so thick, police shut down streets, as more than 100 firefighters and 60 trucks were called to the three-alarm fire inside a Furniture Depot filled with mattresses, which gave the fire plenty to feed on.

Soon, flames were shooting through the roof.

"Smoke was everywhere. It was cooking for hours. They was trying to put it out; six, seven fire hoses. It was just cooking. That wasn't even phasing it. That wasn't doing nothing," one witness said.

Eventually, firefighters had to maneuver through an adjacent cemetery, allowing them to attack the fire from the backside of the building.

Power had to be cut to nearby businesses.

"All the smoke came into our store," said Gurpreet Singh.

At nearby Edison Mart and Kitchen, they had a front row seat to the commotion.

"When I opened the door, everything was just black," said Singh.

Firefighters attacked the flames for nearly three hours before eventually getting it under control around 6:30 p.m.

Friday, at the scene, Keith Adam's company, K & K Adams, Inc., is helping clear out and move the burned mess.

Valcourt: "How much debris are we looking at here?"

Adam: "Debris-wise, we are probably looking at about 200 tons."

Investigators need that debris out of the way, so they can figure out how and where the fire started.

Several cars nearby were also heavily damaged. No word yet on just how much damage estimates will run.

The official cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Firefighters tell WJZ the building used to house a roofing company.