Six children dead in Baltimore house fire
By
Shelley Connor
13 January 2017
A house fire early Thursday morning in Baltimore’s Cedmont neighborhood claimed the lives of six of Katie Malone’s children, ranging in age from nine months to 11 years, and left her hospitalized. Malone’s eight-year-old daughter managed to escape the blaze and save two younger children, boys ages four and five years old.
Around 12:30 a.m., one of Malone’s neighbors awoke to a great booming sound. Robert Spencer, who lived across from the Malones, told the Baltimore Sun that he looked outside to see Katie Malone, her face blackened, fleeing from her burning home. Spencer rushed to assist Malone, inquiring about the children; she told him that three of the children had been pulled to safety, but the remaining six were trapped upstairs.
Spencer reported that he could hear the children screaming amidst the flames and attempted to enter the home to help them, but the heat was too great to withstand. Other neighbors reported that the heat radiated through their windows; it partially melted a nearby car.
Firefighters arrived at the scene quickly, but the three-storey, 107-year-old home was already completely engulfed in flames. As they attempted to enter, the third floor collapsed onto the second. They were forced to exit and battle the fire from the outside of the home. Fire Chief Niles Ford arrived later to find three firefighters kneeling helplessly in front of the charred remains of the Malone’s home, distraught at their inability to save the children.
As the morning progressed, heavy excavating equipment was brought in to clear the debris so that the firefighters could search for the missing children. They recovered the first body by 10:30 a.m.; the last was discovered mid-afternoon….