Fire deaths renew talk of prevention

BALTIMORE - You can't begin to imagine what they're going through. The family and friends hovered about today as they tried to figure out what happened.

The cause of the fire, not known. Where it started, not known. The existence of working smoke detectors, not known.

The only thing that anyone does know is that four small children and their grandmother are dead .

It's a tragedy that affects the entire community.

 “The family inside had a very significant loss and the city had a very significant loss last evening with the matriarch of that family perished the fire is being investigated and we stand in support of the family as they try to pull through this tragedy."  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

It takes a tragedy like this to make people think about fire prevention.

After seeing these pictures and the anguish, every family asks the question, is my house safe.

Could I get out?

Until Thursday, fire deaths in Baltimore City were down; a record low along with the number of fires involving injury.

Last fall the city began a new program to give out free smoke alarms that had a 10 year lithium battery.

With no batteries to replace or remove the city's hoping that the 52 hundred they gave out will make a difference.

That and more education about what to do to prevent fires.

“We want to urge people as they begin that process to call 311 to make sure that he home is protected with a working smoke alarm, secondly don't use your oven to heat your home don't turn the burners on to heat your home not only does that make a fire hazard it makes a health hazard and a carbon monoxide hazard and we want to avoid that at all costs." Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright says.