A city watchdog says Baltimore transportation workers have been laboring in a drafty garage with broken fire protections and wintry temperatures inside, even as the building remains under a formal fire watch.
In a synopsis released June 4, 2026, the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General reported unsafe conditions at a Department of Transportation signs-and-markings facility, including a nonworking fire alarm and sprinkler system, insulation hanging from the ceiling, and an open bay door. Inspectors measured the interior at about 46°F while it was 37°F outside during a February site visit. According to the synopsis, one road-marking truck could not fit through the garage, so the bay door had to stay open.
The Inspector General said the building has been on a Level II fire watch since 2024 and that some of the problems trace back to inspections in 2019. A follow-up visit in early June found only limited progress, prompting DOT to outline a 120-day repair timeline.
What the inspector general found
According to a public synopsis by the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General, investigators inspected the signs-and-markings facility on Feb. 17 and documented an out-of-service alarm panel, an expired fire extinguisher, and insulation wrapped around sprinkler piping…