Investigators are looking into how Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) rowhouse in West Baltimore caught fire on Tuesday morning.
At 10:42 am firefighters got a call to come to the Maryland congressman’s house, according to The Baltimore Sun. The fire fighters found smoke coming out of the roof. The one-alarm fire was under control by 11 a.m.
Cummings was not in the house at the time, according to an aide. Nobody was injured, Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Samuel Johnson Jr., told the Baltimore newspaper.
Cummings has repeatedly described the problems in his neighborhood during speeches in Congress.
“When I go home at night, I see the houses that have been foreclosed upon —the people are gone,” Cummings told the Sun in 2011.
Cummings, in a statement to the Sun later on Tuesady, said that he was in a Transportation Committee hearing when he heard about the fire.
“The fire started on the third floor of the house and the Fire Department is investigating the cause,” Cummings said. “Thankfully, no one was home at the time of the fire and there were no injuries. I am grateful to all of those who have expressed their concern.”
This post has been updated.
