Police identify man who died in Christmas Eve blaze

The man who died after a Christmas Eve fire in his Mount Clare home has been identified as Richard Saulsbury, 42, a resident of the 300 block of S. Norris St. for about six years, a spokesman for the city Fire Department said.

Firefighters found Saulsbury, who weighed 300 pounds, unconscious on the floor of an upstairs bathroom about 11 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright, the spokesman. Because of his size and trash that blocked the path, firefighters had to knock down an interior wall to move him out a window.

Saulsbury was taken by ambulance to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. His dog also died in the fire.

Cartwright said the house had no smoke detectors and that the fire appeared to have started in a first-floor kitchen. Its cause remains under investigation.

He said 34 people have died in fires in Baltimore this year, compared with 23 for all of last year.