BALTIMORE --
Fire officials in Baltimore are investigating a house fire in the northwest part of the city that killed two people.
Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said firefighters were called to the 2800 block of Mohawk Avenue in the Hillside Heights community for a fire at about 4:40 a.m. Wednesday.
Cartwright said firefighters were performing a search and rescue operation at the home when they found the victims.
He said one person was pronounced dead at the scene. The other victim was treated at the scene and died later at a hospital.
Neighbors told 11 News that the victims were in their 60s. They have not yet been identified.
Neighbors said that the community is filled with older homes and long-time residents. They said the victims had live at the home for more than 30 years and that they were very active in the community.
"This is very, very tragic for our neighborhood. They were the type of neighbors that every neighborhood wants," said Yolanda Winkler, the community association's director.
Meanwhile, firefighters told 11 News they did hear smoke alarms going off in the home when they entered.
Winkler and 11 News reporter Jennifer Franciotti said they had heard reports that the nearest fires station was closed and that it took crews a while to get there.
However, Fire Chief James Clack said the response time was four minutes, which is one minute faster than their usual goal of five minutes. He said there was a process in place to make sure the area had coverage.
"There was no delay in our response this morning," he said.
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