Tragedy Prompts Baltimore Firefighters To Take Action
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- They say, never again. Baltimore firefighters take action days after flames claim a family.
Weijia Jiang has more on Saturday's event.
Firefighters went back to that scene to deliver a message: There is something we can and should do for protection.
Tokens of support line the steps of 629 South Pulaski Street, where a pregnant mother and her two sons were killed in a massive Thursday morning fire.
"Nothing in life can prepare you for a day like this," the victim's cousin Gerard Massey said. "I thought I seen it all."
As family members mourn the deaths of Michelle Manigo, 11-year-old Tyquis Moore and 7-year-old Jaquis Manigo, Baltimore firefighters do their part to prevent another tragedy.
On Saturday, they spent several hours sweeping the neighborhood to check and install smoke detectors. Many inside nearby homes were not working.
"We don't know if there was a smoke alarm in the building where the fire started," Chief Jim Clack of the Baltimore Fire Department said. "But it's such a tragedy when people can be saved by such a simple device."
Maimie Hubbard says she might have been trapped if not for her neighbor. The fire ripped through 11 rowhouses, including Hubbard's, but her detectors were turned off.
"He went from porch to porch, kicking and banging trying to get everybody out," Hubbard said.
Investigators say they have reconstructed the fire. Now, they're waiting for lab tests from samples they took inside Manigo's house and the debris leftover. They're hoping to determine a cause sometime in the next few days.
Loved ones wait for answers, comforting each other in the meantime.
The boys played football for Arbutus Youth. Their big brother Marquis-- who wasn't home that fateful night-- does, too.
He's left behind, but clearly not alone. The team has established a fund in his name. The Manigo Family fund is set up at the Chesapeake Bank of Maryland in Arbutus for donations.
The public viewing for the deceased is set for Thursday, Sept. 29 from 2:30 to 7 p.m. at the Calvin B. Scruggs Funeral Home, 1412 E. Preston Street, Baltimore, Md. 21213.
The funeral is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. at the Philadelphia Christian Church located at 3401 Mannasota Ave., Baltimore, Md. 21213.
