2 Women Killed In Essex Fire
ESSEX, Md. (WJZ) -- A tragedy in Essex. A mother and her adult child die in a smoky fire.
As its origin is being investigated, Mike Schuh reports that clutter slowed firefighters' ability to enter the home.
For a woman and her mentally challenged daughter in Essex, their day started off poorly and got as bad as you can get. Carolyn and Stacy Himmelheber's morning can be summed up with a look at the front of her Ford. Just a half-block down from her home, a car turned in front of her. There was a crash, EMTs and an ambulance.
"She had that accident. I didn't even know that," said Christina Lee.
Carolyn was taken to Franklin Square's emergency room and her daughter went with her. The injuries were minor. They were treated and released and returned home, where a tragedy was about to happen.
"I'm really upset about it," Lee said.
A fire, possibly starting in the kitchen, filled the house with smoke. Stacy was found in the bathroom and Carolyn on the steps. Lee came home just as rescuers carried the two women from their home.
"Carolyn was non-responsive and Stacy wasn't breathing," Lee said. "At that time, I didn't know if they were alive or not."
Both of the women died.
Firemen say for a small fire, it was unusually smoky.
"In most cases, it's the smoke that kills people, not the thermal heat," said Elise Armacost, Baltimore County Fire.
The firefighters were delayed getting in at first, as there was too much stuff piled up inside. They ended up going around back.
"When a home is full of belongings---clothes, magazines, paper---that is fuel as there is a fire," Armacost said.
Relatives now are looking for insurance documents and personal papers.
Also killed were two dogs recently adopted from a shelter and the family cat.
The family right now is in the process of planning their funerals.
The fire department says they couldn't find smoke alarms in the house.
