10 Injured In Explosion At Baltimore BGE Building, Partial Roof Collapse – CBS

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — At least 10 people were injured after an explosion was reported at the Baltimore Gas & Electric building in downtown Baltimore earlier Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses say they heard and felt a large explosion around 8:30 a.m. before they saw scaffolding fall from the building at the 100 block of West Fayette Street.

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Baltimore Fire say of the 10 people injured — nine are critical and one is in serious condition. There’s also a partial roof collapse at the building.

Two window cleaners were left clinging to the remaining scaffolding outside on the Lexington Street side of the building for about 30 minutes. They were later rescued by firefighters, who broke a window on the 8th or 9th floor and pulled the men through.

BCFD on a scene of an explosion with a partial roof collapse in the 100 block of W. Fayette St. At least 10 people have been transported to area hospitals; 9 in critical condition and 1 in serious condition. Media staging area at W. Fayette St. and N. Charles St. pic.twitter.com/eq5kqUDFCB

— Baltimore Fire (@BaltimoreFire) December 23, 2020

The good news is that most of the building was empty due to the upcoming holidays and the pandemic.

BGE said construction work was underway on the building’s air handling and boiler system and that likely caused the incident.

Here’s the full statement from BGE:

On Wednesday, Dec. 23, a construction related incident occurred at BGE’s offices at 2 Center Plaza in downtown Baltimore. Construction work was occurring on the building’s air handling and boiler system, which likely caused the incident. Three people were treated for non-life threatening injuries as a result of that incident. The building was largely empty due to the upcoming holidays and the pandemic. Window washing scaffolding was compromised because of the incident and a window washing crew was pulled to safety by the fire department. Fire department and BGE crews are on scene.

When the explosion happened it blew out some of the windows. An eyewitness told WJZ’s Annie Rose Ramos that he was walking in the area when he heard and felt the explosion. He said the ground shook under him and he could see smoke in the air.

“I was walking on this side of the street past the Radisson [hotel] and the glass on the building shook and it went ‘boom,’” said eyewitness Roger Lewis, “and I didn’t know what it was. And we saw debris falling across the street over there.”

#BREAKING: a rescue is underway to help window cleaners stuck on the side of the BGE building. Multiple eyewitnesses say they heard a large explosion moments before the scaffolding fell…more to come @Wjz pic.twitter.com/l0GMk3ks6O

— Annie Rose Ramos (@AnnieRoseNews) December 23, 2020

The incident happened on the 16th floor, per the city firefighters’ union.

💥EXPLOSION WITH RESCUE💥
39 W Lexington St 21201#DowntownBaltimore @DowntownBalt@CouncilmanETC#BCFDR1 reports evidence of an explosion on floor 16 with 2 workers trapped in scaffolding. #BCFDSOC on the way to rescue them. #BCFDEMS treating 2 people on the ground with burns. pic.twitter.com/vs7rNGMKCM

— Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 (@BCFDL734) December 23, 2020

WJZ saw multiple people being brought out of the building on stretchers. Two of the injured were being treated on the ground for burn-related injuries before they were transported to area hospital.

A closer look @MyBGE: 2 men are trapped in the scaffolding to the left as fire fighters break open the window to reach them. The scaffolding on the right is completely sideways. Eyewitnesses say they both fell moments after they heard an explosion, blowing out some windows @wjz pic.twitter.com/hVL2iWHxnE

— Annie Rose Ramos (@AnnieRoseNews) December 23, 2020

Roads have been closed in the area and motorists are being asked to take alternate routes.

There is a report of an explosion with Fire at 110 W Fayette. Motorist are encouraged to avoid this area and use alternate routes in this part of Downtown. @BaltimoreFire is on the scene.

— Baltimore City DOT (@BmoreCityDOT) December 23, 2020

Now crews must removed the remaining scaffolding left on the building.

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