The mother of a toddler who died in a Carroll County fire Thursday was not at home when the flames broke out, fire officials said.
READ MORE: 2-year-old dies in Taneytown house fire
Investigators determined the mother, Emily Brown, had briefly left the house in the 100 block of Baltimore Street in Taneytown to pick up her six-year-old son at the bus stop. When she got home her panicked four-year-old son met her at the door and told her there was a fire in the attic.
Officials said Brown ran upstairs but was driven back by smoke and heat.
Six separate fire departments responded to the scene and put the fire out in about a half hour. An unresponsive child was found in her crib and treated by medics. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary report indicates the two-year-old died from smoke inhalation and burns received during the fire.
A smoke alarm was found on the second floor during the investigation.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
