BALTIMORE — It was around 2 a.m. Tuesday when the flames broke out. Firefighters found three people unconscious inside the home on East Lombard St. By around 5 a.m., neighbors were already figuring out ways to help.
"The neighbors, all the neighbors came out, giving boxes to help pack everything,” community leader Lucia Islas said.
An 8 year-old boy died shortly after he was pulled from the burning home. Two other members of the family, ages 13 and 22, were taken to the hospital with critical injuries. Fire officials confirmed Wednesday evening the 22 year-old man had passed away. On Thursday news broke that the 13-year-old also died.
Friends of the family tell us the two children were brother and sister. The man was their cousin.
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"They are in shock. They don't know how to handle this. And as a mother, I don't know they're doing all of this," Islas, who has been communicating with the family, said.
But they’re not doing it alone. Within the last day and a half, Islas has already heard from a psychologist offering mental health services, a construction worker offering to help rebuild the damaged homes, and plenty of neighbors offering clothes, money, even just a hug.
In all, five homes were damaged by the fire, meaning five families lost everything and are starting from scratch.
"I was like, this cannot be happening. It's just like in one minute, everything was gone,” Islas said of the fire scene.
Highlandtown has a large Latino community and immigrant population. Some of the family members affected just moved to the U.S. recently, making the process of getting back on their feet even more challenging.
"So they just got here and now this tragedy is happening. Can you imagine the impact that they're gonna have” Islas said.
“The fire itself doesn’t discriminate between people and the devastation is real no matter who you are and no matter what your circumstances are. Your ability to stabilize and reshape your life afterwards is dramatically shaped by who you are, your relationships, your resources, your insurance coverage,” Pastor Mark Parker said.
Pastor Mark from the Breath of God Lutheran Church is helping collect donations for the families, already raising thousands of dollars. He's focused on helping the families in the long-term.
"There's a ton of intensity in the moments and in the few days afterwards, and then the houses get the boarded up, people's attention wanders, and a lot of the services are designed for the immediate crisis response,” Parker said.
“Whatever they can donate will be so helpful to them to make them comfortable, to make them feel at least for one moment, happy,” Islas said. "It’s not just money. They need words - to say, ‘we’re here, whatever you need, come with us.’”
"One of the families that was impacted had their phones completely destroyed, but the Red Cross needs to talk to them, and they need to talk to people in their native country, and receive calls about resources. So yesterday, hours after the fire, we walked down and bought new phones for them, because neighbors have been generous and given money that then we can deploy in the immediate aftermath to do those things,” Parker said.
Monetary donations can be sent here.
Investigators are still working to determine how the fire started.
