Three people -- two of them children -- were killed and a family torn apart after a blaze swept through a Northwest Baltimore apartment complex early this morning.
The deadly fire, which witnesses said began before 3 a.m. in one unit and quickly spread throughout the small building on North Forest Park Avenue, also displaced about a dozen other families.
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The victims were found by firefighters in a basement apartment and identified by a family member as Raheem Muhammad, 28, and her son, Royelle Riley, whose 10th birthday would have been today. Muhammad's niece, 7-year-old Markia Summerfield, also was killed, according to family. The fire department confirmed the identities of the victims.
Muhammad's fiancee, Roy Riley, and her daughter, Messiah Muhammad, escaped through a window during what witnesses described as a chaotic rescue attempt thwarted by the growing flames and thick smoke.
Gladys Ward, Roy Riley's mother, said in a telephone interview that her son and his family had moved into the home just two weeks ago. They were asleep when a group of men kicked in a bedroom window and pulled the survivors to safety. But the heavy smoke blocked further rescue efforts, she said.
"It was so black in there, they couldn't find the rest of them," Ward said.
The fire came less than two months after a fast-moving blaze in an East Baltimore-Midway neighborhood rowhouse killed eight people, five of them children. Two others were seriously injured in the May 22 fire, which city officials said was likely caused by careless smoking.
Nearly a dozen families were displaced in today's fire. Several said they escaped by jumping from the two-story building's balconies. A firefighter was also taken to a local hospital for treatment after twisting his ankle while battling the two-alarm blaze.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire. Fire officials said there was not a working smoke detector in the apartment where the three people died. Only three of the 12 units affected by the fire had a smoke detector; of those, just two were working. Residents said they were instead roused by neighbors.
"It's senseless for people to lose their lives in these house fires because of a lack of smoke detector," said Kevin Cartwright, a spokesman for the city fire department, which provides free smoke alarms to city residents.
Among those who escaped was Porsha Crafton, 10, who stood outside her grandmother's condemned apartment today eating popsicles. Witnesses said the fire appeared to have been contained to Riley and Muhammad's apartment. But it rapidly spread, then burst into an inferno with a loud bang.
"As soon as we got outside, it blew up," Crafton said.
Residents of the complex lingered around it today as building supervisor Tony Matthews worked to clear some of the debris. A tangled pile of window frames, pieces of destroyed wooden porches and residents' possessions lay outside the building. A steady stream of water from a broken pipe was spilling out of a second-story window.
Roy Riley was seen outside the building, looking through the broken window of his charred apartment. He left the scene griefstricken, with his hands clasped on top of his head.
Inside Riley and Muhammad's apartment was an overturned mattress and a small red plastic children's' chair. On a dresser was a television -- which appeared to be partially melted -- with stuffed animals scattered around the room.
City officials were working to find housing for the displaced residents. A city bus was brought for them at first while city and Red Cross staffers worked to find accommodations.
Etta Crafton, 55, Porsha Crafton's grandmother, was taken to the hospital due to chest pains she experienced after escaping from her balcony.
"My heart started racing, just thinking about those poor children," she said.
She was treated and released, returning later today to her apartment, which was largely spared despite the heavy damage to surrounding apartments.