An 81-year-old woman has died and a 55-year-old man is in critical condition after a fire broke out in their west Baltimore home overnight.
After the fire broke out, a teen playing video games in the house next door, heard the smoke alarm and sprung into action.
"I went upstairs as fast as I could to wake my mother up to get her out of the house," Da'Jonte Feggins said.
His mom didn't want to be identified but she says her son saved her life.
"This is one time that I’m thankful to God that he was on that game up playing. That he was able to be alert to hear the smoke detectors to rush and save my life, because if it had been 5 minutes more, I probably wouldn't be standing here talking to you right now," his mom said.
They got out of the house, called 911 and woke up their neighbors. Baltimore City Fire crews responded to the home in the 2300 block of Orem Ave just after midnight Sunday. They found heavy fire and smoke coming from the two-story, middle of the group home. The fire quickly escalated to a 2-alarm fire. Firefighters found the man and woman just inside the front door, both in cardiac arrest.
"They were just overcome by smoke, and what we know right now and what we can assume really, since the bodies were found right by the front door, it appears they had some intention of trying to escape just because they were so close to exiting the home," Fire department spokesperson Blair Skinner said.
After they were rushed to the hospital, the woman died from her injuries. Neighbors are still trying to cope with the tragic loss.
"You get to know them and stuff and you feel like you're a family," one neighbor said. "We are close knit here on this block together, everybody knows everybody and we are all together, so if one is hurt, we're all hurt."
This neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, says the woman was visiting her son in the house, but did not live there.
Skinner says this is the 5th fire death in Baltimore City this year. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire; an autopsy will be performed on the woman to determine the exact cause of death.
2-Alarm fire: 2300blk of Orem Ave. Firefighters pulled 2 adults from the 2-story dwelling - in cardiac arrest. They have been transported to an area hospital. @MayorPugh50 @ChiefNilesRFord Cause is U/I pic.twitter.com/0KZqizkaUA
— Baltimore Fire (@BaltimoreFire) March 25, 2018
