Five people die in Baltimore fire www.privateofficer.com

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Baltimore MD Oct 12 2012 Four children and a woman died Thursday morning when atwo-alarm fire tore through a brick rowhouse in Northeast Baltimore.
When city firefighters arrived at 5601 Denwood Ave. just after 2 a.m.,heavy fire and smoke was coming from the first floor and extending to thesecond floor, fire department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said. Asfirefighters hooked up hoses, they saw someone jump from a second-floor window.Relatives of the deceased said a woman first threw her 2-month-old baby to aman below and then jumped herself.
Firefighters arrived shortly after the first alarm,Cartwright said, and the "fire was so intense that the front door was bentinward. It was so intense, I'm surprised anyone survived."
Cartwright said the victims were found on the second floor,in the back bedroom of the three-bedroom house. The fire in the rowhouse, anend unit in a group of four homes, was officially under control at 3:47 a.m.
According to family member Sharron Fenner, who was on thescene, the victims were her mother 55-year-old Nancy Worrell, Nancy's 1-year-old great-grandson, JamesHolden, Jr., and her three grandchildren, K'Niyah Scott, 2; Daryl Stewart,4;and Takyla Manley, 7. Daryl and Takyla attend Moravia Elementary School,family members said.
"Nancywould never leave those children," said Barbara Hopkins, another familymember on the scene and great-grandmother to some of the victims.
Neighbors Laverne and Roger Hawkins were also on the scene.Laverne described the adult victim as "full of life. The primarycare-taker of the grandchildren. I know that she died trying to save thosekids."
Her husband Roger added, "I believe she kept the familytogether. I still can't believe it. It hurts the heart. The children were allso sweet." The Hawkins' shared wall with the end unit was also severelydamaged and their bathroom must be replaced, due to smoke and water damage, hesaid.
Fire investigators and police arson detectives were on thescene this morning. Fire Marshal Raymond O'Brocki III said the fire originatedin the basement and that "while the cause of the fire is still underinvestigation, early indications don't give rise to any suspicions ofarson."
When asked about the cause of the fire, Cartwright said,"Preliminarily nothing boldly stands out to us that was incendiary, but weare investigating everything." He added that it's not surprising some arearesidents suspect arson, as there were two arson cases in the neighborhoodrecently.
As officials were performing a search and rescue, onefirefighter fell through the second floor to the basement and landed on anotherfirefighter. Both firefighters were transported to Bayview Burn Centerwith non-life-threatening injuries, Cartwright said.
"Those firefighters were really brave people. They wereon the second floor trying to rescue the children," Roger Hawkins said.
According to Fenner, 19-year-old Shade Worrell, Nancy's daughter, threwher 2-month-old baby out the second-floor window before jumping out the windowherself.
On the scene, Shade Worrell said it was very black and shecouldn't see anything so she threw the baby to Roderick Goodman, a malerelative who caught him. Shade Worrell and the baby are unharmed, Fenner said.
Goodman was in the front bedroom of the house when the smokewoke him up. He immediately jumped out the second floor window and was nothurt. Goodman, 19, said he ran to the back of the house and heard Shade Worrellsaying, "Help me, help me get my baby." Said Goodman, "I caughtthe baby. I wanted to save the whole family."
"My mother watched over all the children. Her own andall the children on the block," said Fenner. "She never let a childgo hungry. She would always feed them. Her doors were open. She was like theBea Gaddy of this neighborhood. She never let you leave without saying, 'Seeyou later' and 'I love you always.'"
Neighbor Dana Lane said, "We used to call Nancy the hip-hop grandma. She was a reallyfun person."
Other neighbors said Nancy Worrell swept her porch everymorning, and would shout greetings down the block to strangers or ask whetherfamily members were well.
In the early morning hours, neighbors gathered at the cornerwatching small flames poke out of the home's second-floor windows — andsuddenly turn into an inferno.
"At that point, those flames were like an open pitfire," neighbor Mike Matthews said.
Surviving family members, he said, sat wrapped in blanketsacross the street and watched the house burn.
"I thought something was wrong because I didn't see thegrandmother and the kids," Matthews said.
On the scene, City Councilman Brandon Scott said, "AllI can do is ask the entire city to wrap their arms around this entirefamily."
The American Red Cross of the Chesapeake Region partneredwith city agencies to respond to the fire.An empty MTA bus was brought to the scene to providetemporary shelter for family members to get out of the cold, said PhillipBovender, a local disaster volunteer and nurse.
The Red Cross was providing breakfast and a mental healthcounselor for people at the scene, he said, and will provide emergency shelter,food and clothing for those displaced by the fire.
It was not yet clear how many people were displaced.
Source:baltsun.com