Visitors 65
Modified 25-Dec-24
Created 16-Oct-24
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An early morning fire in Hampden killed two people and damaged at least eight homes leaving an unknown number of residents homeless. On Tuesday, October 15th around 0530 hours neighbors in the 3400 block of Keswick Road in the Hampden community of north Baltimore were awakened by the sound of smoke detectors and the sight of a house on fire across the street from them. 9-1-1 was called and some of them proceeded over there to alert neighbors in the adjacent houses to evacuate their homes.
The first arriving fire units were greeted with heavy fire from two dwellings and the fire rapidly spreading across the rooftops and front porches on both sides of the well-involved houses. A working fire and second alarm were requested within minutes of arrival.
Firefighters worked hard to cut off and contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to a church at the end of the block of 2-story rowhouses. They entered all of the adjacent homes to search for occupants as well as check the upper floors for any extension. They battled the blaze from the front and back and five alarms along with several special calls were sounded within the next ninety minutes.
Sometime into the fire it was learned and reported that two people were missing and unaccounted for. The initial fire building had collapsed, and was in unsafe condition and it was assumed that the missing couple were in there. The fire was declared under control at 0830. Because of the unstable condition of the original fire building the Special Operations Team along with heavy equipment from the Department of Public Works were dispatched to the scene. The search for the victims would be a slow methodical process to prevent any further collapse. There were several trees in front that had to be cut down before equipment could get into position the begin the demolition and search. It wasn’t until the early evening when the deceased couple were located and extricated from the debris. The victims were a married couple, both 63 years old and well-respected residents of the community. During the fire, one other resident was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. These two deaths brought the number of Baltimore City fire fatalities to 12 for the year.
As many as 10 homes were destroyed or affected by the fire and an unknown amount of people were displaced. The American Red Cross was on the scene to assist those in need of help. The people of this neighborhood are a tight-knit group and over the weeks following the fire several community associations got together and raised more than $12,000 to help those that lost everything in the deadly fire.
The first arriving fire units were greeted with heavy fire from two dwellings and the fire rapidly spreading across the rooftops and front porches on both sides of the well-involved houses. A working fire and second alarm were requested within minutes of arrival.
Firefighters worked hard to cut off and contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to a church at the end of the block of 2-story rowhouses. They entered all of the adjacent homes to search for occupants as well as check the upper floors for any extension. They battled the blaze from the front and back and five alarms along with several special calls were sounded within the next ninety minutes.
Sometime into the fire it was learned and reported that two people were missing and unaccounted for. The initial fire building had collapsed, and was in unsafe condition and it was assumed that the missing couple were in there. The fire was declared under control at 0830. Because of the unstable condition of the original fire building the Special Operations Team along with heavy equipment from the Department of Public Works were dispatched to the scene. The search for the victims would be a slow methodical process to prevent any further collapse. There were several trees in front that had to be cut down before equipment could get into position the begin the demolition and search. It wasn’t until the early evening when the deceased couple were located and extricated from the debris. The victims were a married couple, both 63 years old and well-respected residents of the community. During the fire, one other resident was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. These two deaths brought the number of Baltimore City fire fatalities to 12 for the year.
As many as 10 homes were destroyed or affected by the fire and an unknown amount of people were displaced. The American Red Cross was on the scene to assist those in need of help. The people of this neighborhood are a tight-knit group and over the weeks following the fire several community associations got together and raised more than $12,000 to help those that lost everything in the deadly fire.
© Howard Meile III