Child dies in Southwest Baltimore blaze, officials say

A child died in a house fire in Southwest Baltimore Friday night, a fire department spokesman said.

Firefighters were called at about 6 p.m. to the 4700 block of Vancouver Road in the Beechfield neighborhood, said spokesman Chief Roman Clark. He said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. The medical examiner’s office will determine a cause of death.

Clark did not have additional information on the child, include the age or gender as of Saturday afternoon. Little damage appeared visible from the front of the home Saturday morning, except for a broken window.

As it grew dark outside the day before, many residents remained in their front yards, watching from stoops as police vehicles arrived on scene, and investigators went in and out of a brick home behind yellow police tape.

“We just smelled smoke, and saw four or five trucks,” said Tracy Howard, 49, who lives nearby. “Once I saw the crime scene tape I knew someone passed. I knew something bad had happened. She said she knew a woman who lived in the home with two young children but she thought they had recently moved.

Farther down the block, Michael McKay stood and watched the officers work as he leaned over he fence in his front yard.

“This is not normal for us,” he said. McKay waited hoping for information from officers. “We just know all of a sudden all hell broke loose.” He described the ruckus as fire trucks rushed up the street, setting off Ring video doorbell systems, which he said he and other neighbors have installed.

Such a scene is unusual for the neighborhood, which McKay described as a relatively quiet and close knit community, where neighbors cut grass for each other.

“I just hope to God it’s an accident,” he said.