ROSEDALE, Md. — By the time firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire in Fontana Village, an 11-year-old girl had already rescued her 19-month-old brother from the burning townhouse.
“She seen him on fire and she grabbed him,” a neighbor told us, who did not wish to be identified, “That’s how she got burned and they came out. I don’t know what went on in there, but it was horrifying.”
It only took firefighters 10 minutes to extinguish the flames, but the real damage, in human terms, had already been done.
“When I saw it, I was like, ‘That’s my friends,’ and then I had seen the baby, and I was like, ‘Oh, no,’ said Katinka Teasley, “I felt bad for the baby, once I saw the marks, like the burns. I didn’t know if he was going to be ok or not.”
Neighbors who came to the aid of the victims did not wish to go on camera or to be identified, but they’re still visibly shaken over what they saw.
“She came out. She was telling everybody to get out of the house and she had the baby, but she was in a panic mode, because of her little brother,” a woman said who offered the victims water while they awaited the medics,
“To actually see a baby with the skin just peeling off of them.”
Firefighters say the source of the fire is still under investigation, but the toddler suffered life threatening injuries and his eleven-year-old sister is in serious condition.
An older brother who is 19-year-old suffered minor injuries.
“I’m just sad that it happened,” another neighbor told us, “It could be anybody, but I’m just glad that God was by their side and the ambulance and the people came and the medics before it got even worse. I’m just sad.”
