BALTIMORE _ One child has died and five other children are presumed dead after a fiery house collapse that injured four others who escaped from the home in Northeast Baltimore's Cedmont neighborhood Thursday morning, the city Fire Department said.
Heavy construction equipment arrived after sunrise to clear debris and aid crews in searching for the children, but Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Chief Roman Clark said the missing are presumed dead.
"This is a recovery effort at this point," Clark said.
One of the children's bodies was recovered about 10:30 a.m., Clark said. While the excavator cleared debris, firefighters searched by hand for the others.
A woman and three other children escaped. The woman and two of the children who escaped were taken to a hospital in critical condition, Clark said. The third child who got out was in serious condition, he said. Their names were not released.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings' office identified the woman as Katie Malone, a special assistant who has worked in the congressman's Catonsville office for nearly 11 years handling issues such as immigration, postal services, and the military, including Service Academy nominations.
"It's a very difficult time for our office," Cummings told reporters at a news conference Thursday morning.
He said he spoke to Malone's husband at length, and he told Cummings that Malone "is going to be OK." Three of the nine children survived, the husband told Cummings.
In a statement, he said: "My staff is a family and this unimaginable tragedy is shocking and heartbreaking to us all. I again ask for your prayers."
Family for Malone could not be reached Thursday morning.
Fire and school officials have not released additional information about the children. City schools CEO Sonja Santelises said officials are waiting for more information on those involved, but will offer support to the family and schools involved.
"I am heartbroken by the devastating reports of last night's fire, and I pray for the children and family who were trapped in this tragedy," she said.
The fire had engulfed all three stories of the house on Springwood Avenue when firefighters arrived about 12:30 a.m., Clark said.
The third floor of the home collapsed onto the second floor shortly later, he said. Firefighters, driven back, had to battle the blaze from outside the home, he said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and will be investigated.
Mark Hopkins, 44, said he used to live on Lasalle Avenue nearby and stopped on his way through the neighborhood as the excavator operator began slowly removing the blackened remains of the roof from the wreckage.
Hopkins, who said he works as a heavy construction equipment operator, didn't envy the contractor who was brought in to remove the debris. He noted the slow, careful pace.
"He has a lot of heart to do that," he said. "He's actually surgically removing the stuff, taking his time, not trying to hurt anything or mess up any evidence or anything they need to look through."
The home is in the Cedmont neighborhood just a few blocks from the Baltimore City-Baltimore County line. The front wall of the home was charred and buckled, with debris strewn across the front yard. Officials say the second floor partially collapsed. The third floor area had collapsed, with the spotlight from a ladder truck shining into the home as fire crews worked outside.
State tax information says the home encompasses approximately 2,000 square feet and was originally built in 1910.
Neighboring homes showed slight damage _ siding had melted from one of the homes _ but fire crews appear to have been able to keep the blaze to the stand alone residence.
City Councilman Brandon M. Scott, who represents the area, said the fire "is truly a tragedy and is devastating to our community."
"We are just keeping the family in our thoughts and hoping for a miracle," Scott said.
Linda Gruzs, 64, president of the Cedmont Community Improvement Association, said she did not know the family but said her phone was ringing all morning from concerned neighbors. She there have been more younger families moving into the community.
She awoke to sirens and then saw flames coming from the home a block away.
"I was asleep and I heard all these sirens. That's when I saw all the flames and all of the commotion. It was just terrible," she said.
"It's not something you want to see. I kept praying please let everyone get out safe. I was just heartsick when I heard it was full of children," she said.
Robert Spencer, 51, who lives across the street, was roused from his bed around midnight by a loud boom and commotion outside.
"I heard some glass break," he said. "I happened to look out my window and I seen the flames."
Spencer said he hurried outside just as the children's mother came running around the side of the burning house. Spencer gave her his jacket and began searching for a way into the fire-engulfed home.
"I was so emotional," Spencer said. "I said, 'Where's the babies at?' She said, 'They're in the house.' I said, 'Please, I've got to go get them.'"
The fire was too powerful, Spencer said. Out of concern for his safety, his family restrained him from going inside.
"The flames was coming from everywhere," he said. "You could feel the heat."
Unable to help, Spencer went back home and tried to sleep. He couldn't. All he could hear in his head were the children's cries from inside the house.
"It's just so emotional _ I cried all night," he said.
William Gray, 37, another neighbor on the block, said the fire appeared to have started on the enclosed front porch and spread rapidly _ "almost in no time" _ to the rest of the house.
"It took them a while to battle the blaze," he said. "As they watered it down, it continued to flare up."
Gray said he didn't know the family personally but always exchanged hellos when he saw the children playing in the neighborhood.
"You'd see them outside playing all the time," he said. "Pretty personable family, they speak to you every time you see them."
Lacy Rowan, who lives up the street, said she and her husband heard noise on the block about 12:45 a.m., but didn't think anything of it because they live just off Belair Road, a busy city thoroughfare. When they ventured outside four hours later, their street was swimming with emergency crews.
"My heart just sank, because I knew there was a family with children in that home," Rowan said. "I've seen them in my everyday passing, when the children walk to school. I've seen them playing in the front yard, on the front porch. My heart's just heavy."
Jacqueline Price, 55, could smell the smoke about 1 a.m. during her overnight shift at the Maryland School for the Blind on Taylor Avenue nearby.
Price said she alerted her building's security guard, who told her about the fire. She lives nearby on Springwood Avenue, so she called a local television station to ask for the address to see if it was her house.
"I needed to know because I have a husband that's home that's had a stroke," she said.
Price stood with other neighbors watching firefighters working outside the still-smoldering home.
"It just looks like everything just caved in," she said. "That's really sad. That's heartbreaking to see that."
Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said on Twitter, "My prayers are with this family and the first responders. An absolute tragedy. ... My goodness."
The fire follows a difficult December for Baltimore fire crews. Last month saw more than twice the number of fire deaths compared to the previous year. Four young children and a 90-year-old woman died in fires in the city in December.
Among the victims was 90-year-old Polly Taylor, who was pulled from a burning home in t Lower Edmondson Village on Dec. 10. She died of smoke inhalation.
The same day, Kamarl Ferrell, 10, and Tylynn McDuffie, 1, died after a fire broke out in South Baltimore. A 27-year-old and 4-year-old were also injured in that blaze.
Two young boys Nigel Ramirez, 3, and 9-month-old Exekial Ramirez, died in a burning home in East Baltimore on Dec. 7.
