Baltimore's Reservoir Hill residents helping neighbors after three-alarm fire
Nine people were displaced, and pets were rescued, after three homes in Baltimore's Reservoir Hill caught fire Sunday afternoon.
Firefighters responded around 12:20 p.m. to the 2500 block of Brookfield Avenue, where a fire broke out inside the building. Three homes were impacted, and one was vacant, according to fire officials.
"I heard boof boof, like an explosion. And I'm like, 'Oh my goodness.' I come out front, and I see huge plumes of smoke and flames shooting out the top of the house," neighbor Faridah Joseph said.
The fire was declared under control at 1:04 p.m., Baltimore City Fire Department Chief of Staff Veobia Akilo said. No animals, residents, or firefighters were injured.
"Went up in flames"
Joseph said she will never forget the scene outside her home when firefighters responded.
"I went out to the back and saw the devastation," Joseph said. "The trees were on fire, the bushes were on fire, the garbage cans were on fire, the cars were on fire. The neighbor down the street, his car caught embers, and his car was on fire."
Justin Kuk said he owns one of the homes that caught fire. He was preparing to rent it out.
"Even though we rent the property now, we lived in it for almost 10 years, and our children were born here, and we have a lot of memories that kind of went up in flames, so that was kind of hard to see," Kuk said.
Kuk said the inside of the house is destroyed. He spent the day salvaging what he could, but he said it would be a long path to rebuild.
"I never thought it could happen to us like this, but it did, so it could happen to anyone," Kuk said.
Picking their neighbors up
The most important thing, Kuk said, is that no one was injured, including pets.
Neighbors said the victims are not going to rebuild alone.
"We're pretty resilient and the great thing is that we've got great neighbors, so we'll be able to pull back together and help each other out as time goes on," Joseph said.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is still investigating the cause of the fire.
