(Baltimore, Maryland) -- On Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. numerous calls rang into Baltimore City Fire Departments Communications Center reporting a house fire in the 2000 block of E. Hoffman Street.
Fire department units were dispatched arrived on the scene to find a two story brick rowhouse with heavy fire and smoke coming from the first and second floors. Firefighters established a water supply, gained entry to perform a rapid attack on the fire while others took positions in the front of the building to raise aerial ladders to the roof for ventilation operations.
As extinguishment operations ensued members received reports that a grandmother and grand child were inside the dwelling. In the presence of a heavy fire, heat and smoke conditions, members fought beyond the elements to gain access to the second floor. While performing search and rescue operations, firefighters found the lifeless bodies of an adult woman and child in the second floor bedroom.
With flames from nearly all windows extending to adjacent dwellings, the Incident Commander requested a second alarm assignment to mange this raging fire. The intensity was such that it burned and weakened the second floor support system that created unsafe conditions for firefighters. With a collapse of the second floor being imminent, Commander ordered all members to evacuate the structure and requested Fire Communications to make an announcement over the operating fire ground channel to sound the "evacuation tones" (universal sound of fire engine air horns to evacuate a structure) to inform all members on the fire ground of same.
Once all members were confirmed out of the dwelling, units began exterior fireground operations to completely extinguish the fire. Fire Investigators and Police Arson Detectives ascended on the scene to begin a preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire. The destruction of this fire caused $90,000 damage to the structure and contents. The official cause of this fire remains under investigation however it's preliminarily determined to be accidental.
"The safety of our citizens is our main priority and it very tragic and unfortunate that a 56 year old grandmother and 3 year old grandchild had to perish". "We will remain relentless in promoting our message about the importance of having this very simple life safety tool a SMOKE DETECTOR," said Fire Chief James Clack.
Baltimore City firefighters will canvass the community surrounded by this unfortunate tragedy to reinforce the importance of fire safety and prevention as well as having a working smoke detector on Friday, November 14, 2008.
