A house fire in Baltimore has claimed the lives of three people — including two children.
The Baltimore City Fire Department announced on Facebook that the fire broke out Tuesday at a home located in East Baltimore. When fire crews responded to the scene, they noticed “heavy fire and smoke” coming from the second floor of the building.
Firefighters found three people “unconscious” and “unresponsive” in the house and they were rescued. Three people received emergency medical treatment at the scene before being transported to nearby hospitals, according to BCFD.
Fire officials confirmed to WBAL-TV, CBS News and Baltimore Sun that one of the three rescued persons, an 8-year-old boy, died a few hours after the incident. The second person, a 22-year-old man, was pronounced dead on Wednesday.
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On Thursday, officials confirmed that a third fire victim – identified as a 13-year-old girl – also died.
BCFD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
As the community grieves, Baltimore City Councilman Zeke Cohen told CBS News on Wednesday, “We’re rallying around each other.”
He added: “My heart is really broken for this family. Speaking as a father with two young children, there is nothing worse that I can imagine than what happened.”
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Baltimore City Fire Chief James W. Wallace described the blaze at a news conference Tuesday as an “extremely challenging fire” for firefighters and first responders on the scene.
“This fire, when we arrived, was in an advanced stage,” he said. “Our firefighters had a different fire [on the] first and second floor. Fire [had] carried away through the front door, broken windows on the second floor.”
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Wallace said he anticipates the investigation into the fire will be “prolonged” and that determining the cause of the fire will be part of that investigation.
Fire officials said, according to WBAL-TV, that the fire also spread to four nearby homes, displacing 19 more people.
“Even though there’s a brave person that comes with being a firefighter, we’re also human, so we’re never devoid of emotion and everything that comes with that,” BCFD spokesman Kevin Cartwright told this newspaper. “We have children. Just to think about someone’s loss, and you taking them out lifeless—it’s chilling.”
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