Fire Strikes Long-Popular Towson Pub

Updated (10:24 p.m.)—What began as a small kitchen grease fire in the Charles Village Pub on Saturday night quickly escalated into a two-alarm blaze that engulfed the popular bar in flames and smoke.

The fire spread to two buildings adjacent to the pub at 19 W. Pennsylvania Ave. and authorities evacuated several other downtown Towson buildings, including the AMC movie theater at Towson Commons.

Nobody was injured as a direct result of the fire, but one volunteer firefighter fell and was hospitalized with minor injuries, a Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman said.

Fire crews were called to the pub at 7:30 p.m. for a report of a kitchen fire. Firefighters spent more than two hours battling the blaze, spraying water into the building's windows and onto the roof with several hoses from above and below. Nearby streets, including York Road and Washington Avenue, were closed for the 25 fire vehicles that came to handle the blaze, including volunteer fire companies from throughout central and northern Baltimore County.

Baltimore County fire director Lynn Mullahey said crews contained the blaze by 9:30 p.m. The fire caused "extensive damage" to the pub and spread to two nearby buildings, including Hamilton Federal Bank and 17 W. Pennsylvania Ave., which houses mostly law and financial firms.

Firefighters were still hosing the building well into the night to quell remaining "hotspots" from the fire. At 1:30 a.m., smoke was still pouring from the pub's roof.

"We'll be here all night," Mullahey said.

The blaze started as a grease fire in the pub's kitchen, according to an employee.

"There was a grease fire," said Mike Tirone, a Charles Village Pub bartender. "We caught the fire and took it out in the kitchen really quick."

Moments later, patrons ran in to tell him flames were coming out of the building's roof.

"This was just unbelievably fast," Tirone said, adding that nobody was on the pub's second floor when the fire started and that everybody got out of the building unharmed.

The two-floor bar and restaurant is a popular destination for Towson University students and sports fans. According to state records, the building is currently valued at $737,500.

Saturday's fire struck just over a month after a two-alarm fire. In 2008, another student favorite, Cluck-U Chicken, was destroyed in a one-alarm blaze.

It struck when many customers were filling central Towson bars and restaurants, and many patrons, employees and residents came out to watch as firefighters battled the blaze.

"You could smell the smoke when it first started," said Ashley Crowl, who works at nearby 

Area residents reported seeing the smoke from as far away as Lutherville.

"You hear a lot of engines around all the time and half the time you don't pay any attention to them," said Melody McSweeney, a resident of the nearby Penthouse building on Allegheny Avenue who saw the flames from her window. "This is unbelievable." 

Tirone still seemed somewhat in shock as he stood across the street and watched firefighters work on his bar.

"No more football," he said with a laugh as he shook his head.