Baltimore City firefighters found a body in the basement of a row house early Thursday morning as they were containing a fire, police and fire officials said.
Baltimore police were investigating the case as a suspicious death that might not have been fire-related, police spokesman Donny Moses said Thursday afternoon.
A small blaze broke out at around 5 a.m. in a first-floor bedroom at 2623 W. Cold Spring Lane in Northwest Baltimore. The fire spread from the bedroom to a hallway before firefighters extinguished it, fire Chief Kevin Cartwright said.
Firefighters discovered the body when they went into the basement searching for occupants and to turn off utilities, Cartwright said.
A sheet had been partially draped over what appeared to be an adult male?s body. Fire officials were not able to determine the cause of death.
The two-story brick house near Park Heights Avenue is divided into separate first- and second-floor apartments. The only other person in the house at the time was a second-floor resident, Cartwright said.
The man tried to escape the fire, but thick smoke on the first floor trapped him upstairs until firefighters rescued him from the back of the second floor. He did not suffer any serious injuries.
Police did not release the surviving man?s name Thursday afternoon because they did not believe him to be involved in any crimes, Moses said. The deceased?s identity was not released either.
Homicide and arson units from the police department joined the investigation. By Thursday afternoon, officials had not determined what caused the fire, Cartwright said.
Six people have died in Baltimore City fires so far this year, and a total of 24 died in 2006, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal?s Office.
