A 3-year-old boy was killed Wednesday morning in a Baltimore apartment fire that sent seven people to the hospital and displaced more than 20 residents, police and a fire department spokesman said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze in the 5500 block of Haddon Avenue shortly after 3 a.m. Upon learning that children were trapped inside, the firefighters ran into the building before they even set up a hose, Chief Kevin Cartwright said.
“It happens occasionally,” Cartwright said of firefighters having to run inside without water.
“When one of the officers came out, the back of his coat was actually burning,” he said, but the fire was safely patted out.
The boy, whose name was not released, was taken to Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Cartwright said. The boy?s brother also was taken to Sinai and listed in critical condition, he said.
Another adult was taken to an area hospital and listed in critical condition, Cartwright said.
The fire broke out after the boys? mother fell asleep while food was cooking on her stove, Cartwright said.
She woke up, found heavy smoke and fire in her apartment, tried to get the boys out of another room, then grabbed a baby who was with her and jumped out a second-floor window, he said.
The mother and the baby are fine, he said.
Several residents had jumped out windows to escape the fire and suffered bruises and a possibly fractured leg, he said.
Staff members from the American Red Cross and a city organization came to the building and are helping the displaced residents, Cartwright said.
