Yorkway House Razed; Fire Still Under Investigation

A house under construction in the 2600 block of Yorkway has been torn down after being heavily damaged by fire on Thursday.

Firefighters received a call at 12:46 p.m. May 16 reporting smoke showing in the structure, according to police officials.

Baltimore County fire personnel on the scene and witnesses in the area reported hearing a series of "loud noises" coming from the structure.

After searching the building to make sure no one was inside, fire crews were evacuated out of concern for their safety, a department spokeswoman said Thursday.

Onsite engineers, worried about the "integrity and stability" of the building after the blaze, asked fire personnel to leave the building, according to spokeswoman Louise Rogers-Feher.

"They were worried about the building collapsing on our firefighters, and we certainly don't want that," Rogers-Feher said Thursday.

By 8:30 p.m. Thursday, the house had been leveled, according to neighbors in the community.

The cause of the fire as well as the origin and cause of the loud noises remain under investigation, according to Baltimore County Public Safety spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

"The fact that the house is razed does not hinder the investigation," she said in an email to Dundalk Patch. "The cause is still under investigation; however, the detectives believe this was accidental, not criminal."

No one was injured in the fire, which caused an estimated $200,000 in damage, according to Armacost.