At 07:27 this morning units from the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to a building fire in Carroll County at the Springfield Hospital Center, located at 1121 Main Street. Crews from the Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department arrived at the scene and found fire visible through the roof of a vacant building on the property. Firefighters initiated a defensive operation using elevated master streams from Tower 12 and Baltimore County Truck 18. While units were operating, a second building nearby was noticed to have smoke showing; a small fire inside was quickly extinguished by crews already on scene.
Several fire hydrants nearby were out of service, prompting a second alarm and the request for additional tankers. Fire department crews remained on the scene for more than three hours before returning to service. The Maryland State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
Springfield Hospital Center is a psychiatric hospital that first opened in 1896. The facility became the largest mental institution on the East Coast, at its peak housing over 4,000 patients. Today, it is operated by the Maryland Department of Health's Behavioral Health Administration.
