Former Seagram's Property Fire Remains Under Investigation

The fire that significantly damaged a four-story building on the former Seagram's Distillery campus in Dundalk remains under investigation, according to Baltimore County Police Department officials.

At 9:35 p.m. July 27, police and fire units were dispatched to the property at 7100 Sollers Point Road. Emergency personnel found the four-story building with "heavy fire showing from all levels," according to a statement from public safety spokeswoman Elise Armacost. "There was a partial building collapse as well." 

One man who has not yet been identified was found at the Seagram's building suffering from burns and other injuries, according to the statement. He was taken to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, where he is in critical condition, according to Armacost.

"Preliminary reports indicate that he fell or jumped, but detectives have not been able to confirm what happened, largely because they have not been able to interview him yet," Armacost said in an email to Patch.

Flames at the distillery shot high in the sky and were visible from many areas across town Saturday night. It took nearly four hours to get the fire under control.

The blaze escalated to three-alarm status. More than 35 pieces of apparatus and more than 100 firefighters, including some from Baltimore City, were used to fight the fire. 

There were no reported injuries except for the man who had been in the building, according to Armacost. 

The dilapidated and abandoned buildings that make up the former Seagram's property are privately owned by John Vontran. 

A number of arsons on the Seagrams property have been investigated in recent years.

Detectives are still trying to determine why the victim was inside the vacant building and how the fire started, according to Armacost.

Police officers will conduct increased security checks on the property, according to the statement.

"The building is structurally unsafe and should not be entered," she wrote in the statement.