A garden style apartment building on Spa Road partially collapsed on firefighters Thursday afternoon in Annapolis as they were battling a blaze that had enveloped all three floors, city fire officials said. One Anne Arundel County firefighter was injured in the fire, Capt. Aaron Edwards, fire department spokesperson, told The Capital. He sustained injuries that weren’t life-threatening and was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center for further treatment. When firefighters arrived on scene in the 1000 block of Spa Road “heavy dark brown smoke” was billowing from the 12-apartment building, Edwards said. “Within a minute of us getting there, fire was blowing out the third floor,” he said. ”And by the time we got in (the building), fire was blowing through the roof.”
With firefighters inside, the structure partially collapsed. He said some were caught underneath and “a Mayday was called,” which means firefighter down. “It was getting pretty hairy there,” Edwards said. After getting the firefighters out, he said crews doused the building in water and went back in. Edwards said 14 people requested the assistance of the Red Cross after the blaze. Firefighters rescued 10 pets — mostly dogs and one cat.